Girl Trouble
by Daring Dan
Summary: Our story continues... A forced landing at Louie's brings a meeting with a mysterious young stranger, and Kit's life will never be the same
1. Default Chapter

Author's Note:  This story is dedicated to the men and women of vision at Disney who brought Tale Spin to life.  In particular, it is dedicated to Jymn Magon, whose brilliance and leadership gave Kit, Baloo, Rebecca and all the rest their moment in the sun.

Any resemblance of places or events in this story to actual places or events is strictly coincidental, though not necessarily accidental.  

                      GIRL TROUBLE

PART I

"What could go wrong next!"  the big bear moaned, leaning back in his chair.  "How could we possibly lose the port engine with no wind, no rain, no lightning, no pirates! What was Wildcat thinkin' when he checked the dang thing!"  Even a routine run from New Fedora, it seemed, was destined not to be routine.

Kit Cloudkicker had heard this one before.  "C'mon, Papa Bear - it's an old plane.  But a good, one, a good one!" he hastily added, as Baloo shot him a glare that could melt an iceberg.  "Things go wrong, sometimes there's no way to prevent it.  Y' know Wildcat's the best mechanic around."  The yellow seaplane was now listing dangerously.  "Just be grateful we're so close to Louie's - we can touch down there and get it repaired.  Six degrees port, we're about three miles out."

"Yer right kid.  Hate to have to ditch 'er in the middle of the ocean.  Man, no matter what happens, every time it looks like we're gonna get home early we end up at Louie's!  And Beckers'll find a way to make this my fault, as usual!"

"She's not so bad."  Kit said, smiling.  "She just likes to yell at you for some reason.  Say, I wonder if it's because-"

"Don't even THINK it, L'il Britches.  She's just a fiery gal, that's all.  Now let's land this old duck and get us some burgers."

The old yellow seaplane touched down, as it had so many times before, just off the floating pier at Louie's place.  There was a noticeable wobble as the plane descended, and one wing slapped the water loudly as the plane touched down.

"Boy, those one engine landings are tough, L'il Britches.  Really had to fight 'er down that time."

"Aw, you can handle a lot worse than that, Baloo." the cub said admiringly.  "Once you've landed a plane with both the wings sheared off, somethin' like this is a piece of cake."

"Yeah, that sounds good, I wonder if Louie's got any of his triple-rightside-up chocolate surprise cake...."

Bear and cub strode up the pier towards Louie's.  Several small brown monkeys jumped out to greet them.  "Fill 'er up, guys." Kit told the simians.  "An' the port engine's crapped out, too."

Louie's place was, as ever, a marvel of color and flash, tropical masks dotting the walls and tiki torches burning brightly.  The red orangutan jumped up on the bar to greet his friends.  "You're losin' your touch, Cuz!" he laughed at Baloo  "I heard that landin' all the way in here!"

"Port engine died, monkey man.  It's a meerkle I could bring 'er down in one piece!"

"Yeah, Cuz, you're a reg'lar Amelia Airhead!"  the ape laughed.  "How's it goin' shortstop?" he greeted Kit.

"Not bad Louie, thanks.  Got any guava-mango punch and pepperoni pizza back there?"

"The usual for the pint-size navigator.  Just don't ask for no anchovies, man!  How bout you, Baloo?  Back up the burger truck again?"

"Nah, how 'bout some triple-rightside-up chocolate surprise cake?  And a Krakatoa-kiwi fizz."

"Comin' right up.  Ba-wabba-bada-bada-wham-bam-dooo-dliay-oh!" the ape sang to himself joyfully as he prepared their drinks, arms flailing faster the eye could follow them.  In the corner, someone began tinkling away at the old piano.

"Light crowd tonight, Louie." Baloo said, surveying the joint.  Only a few patrons sat at tables, and no one besides Baloo and Kit at the bar.

"Yeah man, bidness been dead lately.  Whooda thunk it, but ever since the air pirates stopped hittin' this area so hard, my take's gone down!  Guess folks ain't so anxious to land if they ain't afraid to fly."

"How bout that, L'il Britches?"  Baloo asked his friend.  "Ever'body's good news is bad news for somebody, I guess.  Kit?"

The boy was staring towards one of the tables, seemingly oblivious to Baloo.  "Kit?"  the big bear tried again.

"Louie!  Who's THAT?" the cub asked, as he pointed to the table, mouth agape.  

"Dunno, L'il Cuz!" Louie glanced around Kit's shoulder at the table.  "Didn't see 'er come in."

At the table sat a young polar bear, perhaps fourteen or fifteen, and most decidedly feminine. She wore a plain grey shirt, which seemed out of place with her smooth, exotic features.  As though aware she was attracting attention, the young bearess glanced up briefly from the papers laid out on the table before her, flashed a tiny, impossibly brief smile, and quickly looked back down.

"Kid, it ain't polite to stare.  Kit?  Kit?"  Baloo finally grabbed his young charge's head gently with both hands and turned it around.

"She's Bee-YOO-tiful!" Kit sighed, propping his elbows on the bar and resting his chin in his hands.

"Uh oh!"  Louie said, casting a smile in Baloo's direction.  The pilot was looking at his navigator with concern.

"Awww!  This can't be happenin' already!"  he moaned to Louie.

"All downhill from here, 'Cuz!  Better get used to it - yer life just got more complicated!"

"What're you guys talkin' about?" the cub asked dreamily, casting a furtive glance over his shoulder.  With a flourish, the orangutan artfully set the two bears food and drinks in front of them.

"Never you mind, pint-size." Louie said, tweaking the boy's nose.  "Eat your pizza - yer gonna need your strength!"

"Whaffa I offf yof for teh innfnnn, floofie?"  Baloo, asked, wolfing down the last of his cake.

"Whazzat Cuz?  Can't understand a word yer sayin'!"  Louie asked.

"Sorry pal."  Baloo replied, washing down his cake with his Krakatoa fizz.  "I said, whadda I owe you for the engine?"

"Nuthin' Cuz' - my boys said one of yer' connections was loose.  The vibrations from the engine caused it to fall out, only a matter of time.  No trouble to fix at all."

"SEE, Kit?  I told you Wildcat didn't check that engine out proper!  Kit?  Kiddo, you listenin' to me?"

"Wha?  Oh, sorry Baloo, no, I'm not hungry."  the boy replied, chin in hands, a smile on his face.

Baloo rolled his eyes at Louie.  "Time to GO, L'il Britches." he said, standing up and turning to leave.

"Oh, Ok Papa Bear."  Standing, the boy turned to look, but the polar bearess was gone.  

"Sorry kid!  Left about a minute ago, while you was in dreamland."  Louie offered.  "Weird, didn't hear anybody take off.  Wonder who she came in with."

"Gonna JOIN me , L'il Britches?"  Baloo asked impatiently, standing in the doorway.  "We're gonna be late as it is!"

"Oh, sure Baloo." the boy scurried out after him.  "See ya, Louie."

Rebecca was standing at the edge of the dock waiting when they pulled up in the Sea Duck.  "Don't even bother this time, Baloo!  I radioed Louie's and he said you were there!"

"Don't get yer balance sheets in an uproar, boss lady."  Baloo said, jumping onto the dock.  "Port engine crapped out - had to land at Louie's to get 'er repaired.  Or perhaps Your Timeliness would rather I fly YOUR plane and MY navigator home with one engine?"

"S'true, Miz Cunningham."  Kit said as Baloo helped him onto the dock.  "We were early, but then we lost 'er.  Baloo didn't have any choice."

Weeellll...." Rebecca was clearly more inclined to take her junior employee at his word. "Well, then, why did you lose the engine?  Didn't Wildcat check it out before you took off?"

"That's what I aim to find out."  said Baloo, striding purposefully towards the workshop.

Inside, Wildcat and Molly were playing with a set of toy animals.  Baloo didn't even want to know whose they were.  "Wildcat, I-"

"Baloo!" screamed Molly, jumping into his arms.

"Hey, pigtails.  I gotta talk to Uncle Wildcat for a sec'."  He set her down, and gently shoved her out the door.

"But Baloo - "

"C'mon kiddo, let's go play with my models for a few minutes." Kit grabbed Molly by the hand and led her towards the main building.

"Hey Baloo, wanna see my new warthog?  See, he goes "Snork, snork, oink oink-".

"Wildcat, what's the big idea sendin' Kit an' me out with a bad connection in the port engine?"

"Oh, I checked the engines this morning, Baloo, they were all engines fine, purring like a big kittycat - "

"Wildcat, Louie's mechanic said there was a loose connection in the port engine, it was just a matter of time before we lost it.  Well, we lost it right over the ocean!  If we haddana been a few miles from Louies-"

"It wasn't loose when you left Baloo, no way, uh huh!  Mebbe somethin' happened on the run somewheres."

Rebecca was standing in the doorway.  "He sounds pretty sure, Baloo.  Did anything unusual happen in New Fedora?"

Baloo scratched his head.  "Naw, everything was peachy!  We were ahead of schedule - Me! Ahead of schedule!  I'm tellin' ya, nothing happened."

Wildcat was once again happily playing with the animals.  Rebecca shrugged.  "I guess it's just a mystery Baloo.  Sometimes these things happen.  At least no one was hurt.  I don't think Wildcat would make a mistake about something like this."

"Yeh, I guess yer right Becky.  Sorry Wildcat.  Somethin' weird goin' on here...."

As the two bears were standing by the workshop, a pair of blue eyes peered out from the cargo hatch on the Sea Duck.  Seeing the two kids disappear into the main building, the eyes, accompanied by a flash of white , slipped off the plane and disappeared around a corner of Higher for Hire.....

Kit was picking at his dinner.  For some reason, he just didn't have much of an appetite.  Baloo, in contrast, had wolfed down his meal in record time.  "Whassa matter, L'il Britches?  Aintcha feelin' well?"

"I'm OK Baloo, just not hungry for some reason."  The boy rested his head in one hand, and absently stirred at his mashed potatoes with the other.  

"Is..uh..is there anything you'd...uh..like to, y'know, talk about?" the big bear asked, shifting uncomfortably as he said it.

"No!"  Kit said, hurriedly getting up from the table.  "I think I'm gonna take a walk.  I need to take a walk, I think.  See ya' in a while."  the cub quickly walked out the door.

"But kid -" the bear replied to Kit's departing back.  "Boy, the kid's got it bad."  He scratched his head.  "Since he's not gonna finish his mashed potatoes...."

Kit walked along the harbor, hands in pockets, watching the sun sink and the lights of downtown Cape Suzette beginning to flicker on.  "C'mon Cloudkicker, snap out of it!" he muttered to himself.  He just couldn't figure it - why should a ten second look at some cub leave him feeling all....brain-dead like this?  It's not like it's the first time he'd seen a girl cub..

"Hello." a voice cooed, to his left.  Startled, Kit looked over.  There, standing under a tree was the same cub he had seen at Louie's!

Nervously, he took his baseball cap off, twisting it in his hands, and took a stride towards the girl.  "Uh, h-h-h-hello." he stammered, nervously.  Darn!  Sounded like a jerk!

"Hello." the girl said again.  This time Kit could hear some sort of accent in her voice, he wasn't quite sure what it was.  "I see you at Louie's, do you remember?"

"Uh, yeah, I g-guess so." the cub replied.  "I seem to remember that.  Are you - what are - do you live around here?"  he'd heard someone say that, in a movie or something.

"Yes, live in.... Cape Suzette." the girl said, smiling.  "You too?"

"Oh! Uh, yeah, I, uh, live just right down there - " Kit pointed back towards Higher for Hire, now a few dozen yards or so down the shore.  "I don't think I've seen you at school, have I?"  Kit began to relax slightly - this was just a kid almost his own age after all!  He was just noticing how cute her little black button nose was, how it seemed to-

The girl coughed. "No, I go to - private school?" she half asked, as if unsure of the vocabulary.  

"Oh." Kit said, disappointed.  No wonder he hadn't seen her before.  "Uh, what were you doing at Louie's?"

"My fazzer is, what you say, a peelote?  Fly planes?"  For some reason he couldn't fathom, Kit found her mangling of English utterly charming.  "We stop for gas."

Weird, Kit hadn't remembered seeing another plane - and he certainly hadn't seen her father at the table.  He frowned.

"I, must say, how is it, good night?"  she said.  "My father like me to not be out after darkness, yes?"

Momentarily panicked, Kit searched his head for something to say.  She couldn't leave already!  "Will not your - fazzer, be worry about you?" the girl asked, with a smile.  

"Oh, uh yeah, I guess."  Kit replied.  "He's not - never mind, long story.  Um, I'm Kit, by the way.  Kit Cloudkicker!"

She smiled again, buckling the cub's knees.  "I am Sasha." she said, holding out her paw.  "Good night, Keet."

"Uh, n-n-n-night!" he stuttered, grasping her warm paw gently.  With a gentle tug, she extracted her hand and slowly walked away.  Kit stood, staring at the bearess' back until it disappeared into the dusk, and then down at his own paw, still held out where she had released it.

"Where's that kid?"  Baloo asked himself, glancing at his watch.  "Gettin' dark out, don't know where 'is head's at lately."  He heaved himself out of his chair and walked out the door.  To his surprise, Kit was sitting on the dock, staring out at the water.

"Kit!   What the heck are ya doin' out here?  I didn't even know you was back yet.  C'mon inside!"

"Oh, hi Baloo." the cub said absently.  "No thanks, I just had one."

"Kid, what's with you?  It's almost nine.  Come on inside and stop this silly talk."  He walked over and gently tapped the boy on the head.

"Sure, Baloo, whatever you say." Kit replied, standing and walking into Higher for Hire with a small smile on his face.

"Well, don't wait for me or anythin' kid." the pilot muttered, following him.

The cell was spare and cramped - six feet by six feet, a small sleeping bench protruding from one wall, no mattress.  There was no other furniture - only a thin, dirty polar bear in a tattered prison uniform, who sat on one end of the platform, knees drawn up around his head.

"Dinner time!"  Said a voice from outside the door.  The figure on the bed didn't look up.  "What's the matter?  Not up to your gourmet standards?" the voice sneered, sliding a plate of four raw turnips and a slab of moldy bread through a slot in the door.  "Good enough for traitors, Walschinsky.  Enjoy it."

With a dispirited sigh, the figure uncoiled himself, and wearily reached down for the tray.  He took a bite of bread and immediately spit it out.  He fell back onto the platform and covered his face with his hands.

"One man's traitor is another's hero, yes?" he said to no one.  "Oh, my beautiful, my little one, where are you tonight?  If I could see your smile once more I could face another lifetime of this torture..."

It had been a constant struggle for Kit to keep his mind in his body during school all day.  Other things kept trying to intrude, block out the teachers.  Kit couldn't afford any more trouble with his teachers, he knew that much.  He wasn't sure he could come up with another hundred words on grammar.

At last, the day ended, and he was free to let his thoughts wander as he walked home from school.  Ernie had asked him to go to the malt shop with some of the Jungle Aces, but he had begged off - he just wasn't in the mood.  What was wrong with him?  Why couldn't he think straight?  He knew why - it was that girl, that white cub.  Buy WHY?  Why couldn't he stop thinking about her?

He decided to take the long way, and walk along the harbor.  He loved the harbor - watching the planes coming and going, the boats scurrying across the water - it made him feel free.  And maybe there was another reason he wanted to walk here today....

To his shock and amazement, there she was - right under the same tree she had been under yesterday! Had she been waiting for him?  No, she just likes the spot, the view.  "Probably wishes I'd stop bothering her." he thought to himself.  Nervously he approached her, and, to his enormous relief, she smiled!

"Hello, Keet." she said slyly.

"Uh, hi Sasha.  No books?"

"Oh!  No, I left them at home already.  My school, she's over early, yes?"  That accent again!  Where had he heard it before?

"This is, um, a beautiful spot, isn't it?" he asked her, looking at her feet.

"Very nice.  This is a beautiful city, I am very glad to be here.  I fear, as you say, I know little about it.  Maybe you can show me some of the... sights, yes?"

Kit's heart raced.  "Yes!  I mean, sure, I wouldn't mind, if you'd like to.  I have some time right now, if you - "

"That would be very nice, thank you.  I have, as you say, some time also."

"Oh, well, OK then!  Let's go!"

The next hour was a blur in Kit's mind, even as it was happening.  He remembered showing Sasha the fountain square, downtown.  He remembered the statue in Khan Park.  He remembered the airfield - why had he taken her to the airfield?  Most of all, he remembered that she spoke very little, which was a problem, as he tried to fill all of the silences himself, and he had long since run out of interesting things to say.  He was glad he couldn't remember any details about that!  

Remarkably, the white cub seemed not to mind any of it - She walked along with a small smile on her face, occasionally asking a question or two about the city.  Soon, Kit looked up to find that he had walked her back to the harbor, and Higher for Hire was just a few yards ahead.

"Uh, I live here, right over there." he said pointing.

"You live with man who is not your fazzer?"

Kit laughed - it felt good!  "Yeah, you could say that.  We're partners.  This is Higher for Hire, it's an air cargo business.  Becky - Rebecca Cunningham - she's the owner.  Baloo - that's the man who's not my father - is the pilot, and," he paused for effect, "I'm the navigator!"

"Goodness!" the girl exclaimed.  "So young!  Is this not a difficult thing for you?"

Kit blushed at her characterization.  "Nah, I've been foolin' around with maps and compasses since I was a little kid.  It's no problem."  He paused and coughed, as though gathering his strength.  "Uh, Sasha, I , you know, really enjoyed our walk today, it was great!"

"Yes, I am having a nice time as well.  You are a very good guide."

"Oh!  Thanks.  Would you - I mean, maybe, sometime, would you maybe want to go to a movie?  There's a great adventure serial down at the Paragon."

The girl smiled.  "Yes this sounds like I enjoy it, thank you for idea.  I go!"  With that, she turned and started walking away.

Kit was startled.  "W-wait!  I meant, y'know, go with me!"

The girl turned, a full grin on her face, absent any of the slight ruefulness that had graced her smiles before.  "I know, silly Keet!  I have a joke with you!  Of course I will go to movie with you!"

Kit's mouth was agape for a moment.  Then he laughed aloud.  "Oh man, you had me.... How about tomorrow?  About the same time?"

"That would be nice.  Meet me under our tree, Keet Cloudkeecker.  Good bye!"  Without another word, she turned and was gone.

Kit watched her for a moment, then stood, hands in pockets.  Had he dreamed this whole afternoon, or had it really happened?

Baloo had been loading Fandango Mangoes for tomorrow's run for about an hour - amazing, they'd managed to keep their very first client despite losing their initial shipment! - when he saw Kit walking down the shore towards him.  He stopped a short ways down the water.  

Baloo frowned and squinted.  That cub - wasn't she the one from Louie's?  That was odd.  Quite a coincidence, that she lived in Cape Suzette too.  He wiped the perspiration off of his brow and walked over to Rebecca, who was checking off the shipments on her clipboard.

"Whaddaya know about that?" he asked her, gesturing towards the two cubs, who were standing and talking.

Rebecca followed his gesture.  A look of surprise, then a smile crossed her face.  "Who's the young lady, Baloo?"

"Search me Beckers.  Never saw 'er before two days ago.  We ran into her at Louie's, then here she is today in Cape Suzette.  Weird.  Knocked Kit right on his landing gear when he laid eyes on 'er, tho'."

"Get used to it, Baloo!  You're living with a teenager."

"Don't call him that!" Baloo admonished.

"Why not?  He's thirteen now, Baloo, he's not a little boy anymore.  Looks like he's figured out there's more to life than airplanes..."

"Yeah, and it's all trouble...." Baloo muttered.

Kit had separated from the girl now, and was moonily walking towards them.  "Hey L'il Britches, whose yer friend?" the grey bear asked.

"Hi Kit!" chimed in Rebecca.

The cub, appearing to take no notice, kept walking.  Baloo reached out a burly arm and stopped him in his tracks.  "Oh, hi Baloo, Becky.  Nice day, huh?"

"Moon's out early." Baloo grumbled.

"Your friend is very pretty, Kit." Rebecca smiled at the boy, prompting a rousing blush on both cheeks.  He ducked under Baloo's arm and scurried into the bedroom.  "Lotta homework!" he shouted over his shoulder.  

Rebecca put her hand over her mouth, trying to stifle a laugh.  Baloo simply shook his head.  Weird, that girl showing up right here......

Isaac Walschinsky couldn't figure out which was worse - the quiet, dark nights, with the only sound to interrupt your thoughts the scurrying of rats across the floors, or the days - twelve hours in the bitter cold, slaving away with hammers and chisels on some rock pile or other meaningless task, all the while bound in leg irons.  All in all, it was not a prospect that left a man keenly looking forward to the next dawn.

Walschinsky looked around him.  There were perhaps two dozen polar bears, in various states of emaciation and ill health, slowly, laboriously lifting their hammers and crushing rocks.  There were perhaps a half dozen guards, all warthogs, walking the perimeter of the work area, rifles in hand.  Periodically one of them would stop to berate one of the prisoners for slacking, sometimes using the butt end of his rifle for embellishment.  Not a lot of security, Walschinsky thought - but then, with hundreds of miles of arctic wasteland in all directions, escape was death.

"Eyes front, Walschinsky!" a hulking guard barked from behind Walschinsky's right shoulder.  "This is not a sightseeink tour!"  Walschinsky sighed, turned and lifted his hammer.  Out of the corner of his eye, he saw the prisoner adjacent to him furtively glance in his direction, arching an eyebrow slightly.

Slowly, almost imperceptibly, the two prisoners inched their way towards each other, hammering a ll the while.  Finally, they stood a few feet apart, hammers in hand.

"Isaac!"  the other man hissed quietly, raising his hammer over his head.  "Free Bird has reported in - " he brought the hammer down with a crash on a large granite boulder in front of him, barely raising a welt on it's surface.

Walschinsky raised his hammer.  "What news?" he whispered.  Crash!

"He has visited the nest.  The eggs are not there!" the man whispered.

"No - TALKING!" said a voice from behind.  Snarling, the guard brought the butt of his rifle down on the man's back, causing him to fall to his knees, gasping for air.  Turning, he glared at Walschinsky.

Walschinsky turned away, knowing better than to risk a confrontation.  When you hold no cards, you don't raise the bet.  Eyes forward, he continued to work.  The guard withdrew.  

They were gone!  How was this possible?  Who else knew of their existence, much less their location?  He couldn't have picked a more obscure hiding place.  Was there a traitor in the movement?  This was very bad, very bad indeed.....

Baloo yawned, stretching his arms over his head.  He donned his sleeping cap and rolled into bed.  Kit lay on the small bed beside him, models of airplanes and blimps hanging over his head. The boy was staring at the ceiling, arms behind his head.  "Wish you were comin' on that mango run tomorrow, L'il Britches.  Nothin' more boring that a produce drop."

"Yeah, me too Papa Bear.  Beats sittin' in school all day.  Uh, I'm gonna go to a movie after school tomorrow, OK Baloo?  I'll be home a little late."

The big bear looked over.  "A movie, huh?  Goin' with anyone special?"  Kit blushed again.  "It's OK, L'il, Britches, ya don't hafta be embarrassed!  You kin tell ol' Baloo."  The cub greeted him with silence.  Baloo switched off the light.

They lay in the darkness for a moment or two.  "What's 'er name, kiddo?"

"Sasha." Kit answered, smiling in the dark.  "She's - real nice, Baloo.  We took a walk around the city today."

"She's that same cub who was at Louie's, right?"

"Yeah, she was at Louie's.  She was there with her Dad -he's a pilot too."

"I don't remember seein' him at Louie's."

"I dunno, I guess we missed him, Papa Bear."

The bear shrugged in the dark.  "Where'd you meet her?  After Louie's I mean.

"I saw her when I went for that walk, after dinner.  She was over by the harbor."

"Lucky thing you ran into her, so close to home, huh kid?"

"I guess.  Whatever.  She's nice enough, we're just gonna go see a movie.  I was gonna go anyway."

"Sure kid, whatever you say.  G'night."

"Night Baloo."  Kit said.  "Wanted to see that movie for a long time.", he muttered, into his pillow.  Stifling a chuckle, Baloo rolled over and fell asleep.

Isaac lay on his sleeping platform, staring up at the ceiling.  His body ached, but he could not fall asleep.  Sometimes it seemed as if he never slept, just lay down at night and stood up in the morning.  Lately, he had found he had stopped having any dreams, at least so he could remember.  Was that worse than the screaming nightmares which usually accompanied his slumber?  Isaac wasn't sure.

Suddenly, he heard a small noise, near the door to his cell.  By the dim light sneaking in through the bars, he could see a small object on the floor that hadn't been there before.  Warily, he sat up in bed, listening for movement in the corridor.  Nothing.  Quickly, he rolled out of bed and snatched the object.  It appeared to be a small piece of paper, crumpled into a tiny ball.  Silently as he could, he unfolded it and spread in flat with his fingers.

Eyes straining in the dim, he struggled to read see the paper.  There was writing on it, tiny lettering...."Baby bird has flown."  Quickly, he placed the paper on his tongue and swallowed.

Baby Bird has flown?  WHY didn't _anyone_ do what he told them?  And what did this have to do with Free Bird?  Was there a connection?.  And WHO had slipped him this note?

Isaac crawled back into bed, his mind a whirl.  Things were not turning out like he'd planned.  Clearly, it would be prudent to be prepared for something to happen soon....

"What were you doink?" Lt. Plodder demanded as the guard trooped back into the security room and sat at the desk.

"Though I heard a noise out there in block seven, Lieutenant." the Sargeant replied.  "Just wanted to make sure there was nothink fishy goink on."

"Polar bear scum!  Even when they're prisoners they show you no respect."  Plodder growled.  "Traitors, the lot of them.  All of them should be locked up."

"Yes, sir, all of them locked up." the Sargeant replied, softly.  "Traitors....."

Kit and Sasha walked slowly along the harbor, neither saying much of anything, both watching the ships slowly traversing the azure water.  Higher for Hire was just ahead.  Kit stopped, and pointed at the Sea Duck. "That's our plane, right there.  She's a beaut, ain't she?"

Sasha squinted, and nodded.  "Yes, she is very pretty.  She is, "Sea Duck", you say?

"Yep, that's our baby.  She's a vintage job.  Superflight 100 engines, too.  Got me an' Baloo out of a lot o' jams. '

"Jams?" Sasha asked, confused.

"Oh, you know, pickles.  No?  Tough spots, danger, you know, saving countries and fighting pirates, that kinda thing."

A glint flashed in the white cub's eyes.  "You do all thees as you... run the cargoes?"

"I guess we do more than run cargoes.  It always starts out real normal, and stuff just kinda seems to happen, and it all tailspins outta control.  I kinda like it tho'.  See, Baloo an' me, we're not really just pilot and navigator, and Becky - Miz Cunningham, she's not really just our boss... I guess it's complicated."  He smiled at the girl.  "Did you enjoy the movie?"

"Yes, your 'Flash Nelson', we don't see him where I... I've never seen him before.  Very exciting."

"Um, where _are_ you from, anyway?"

"We come from... Upper Tibal."

"Upper Tibal?  Really?  Gee, we've never been there." Kit puzzled in his mind, he was sure he'd heard that accent.  "How long have you lived in Cape Suzette?"

The girl shifted her feet.  "Not very long.  We come for ze beautiful weather, yes?  Very nice weather - warm and sunny.  Is very cold where I come from."

Baloo, reclining on the hammock under the Sea Duck's tail, caught Kit's glance and waved cheerily.  How long had he been watching??  "Uh, you wanna come inside for a few minutes?"

"Yes, I would like that Keet."

The two cubs walked into Higher for Hire, Kit warily casting a few looks at Baloo.  "Don't follow me!" he thought.  "Don't follow me, don't-"

"Hello!" Rebecca Cunningham said from behind her desk as the two cubs entered.  "Aren't you going to introduce your friend, Kit?"

"Oh, sure, Miz Cunningham.  This is Sasha, Sasha this is Miz Cunningham, she's our boss." the two ladies gracefully shook hands and exchanged greetings.

"An' I'm, Baloo, ace of the skies, at yer service!" the pilot trumpeted, entering the room, doffing his hat and executing an elaborate bow.  Kit buried his face in his hands.

"Hello, Mr. Baloo.  It is a pleasure to meet you at last."

"Huh?"  the pilot replied.  "Whatcha mean, Princess?"

"Oh!.  Only, Kit, he has told me much about you.  About your fighting the pirates, and all the rest."

"Oh he _has_, has he?  Whatcha tell her, L'il Britches?"

Sasha smiled at Kit.  "L'il Britches?  What is this 'L'il Britches'?"

Kit looked as if his face was going to erupt in flames.  "That's just, it's just a friendly name, like, 'pal' or 'buddy', RIGHT Baloo?"  The cub shot a searing glance at the pilot.

"Oh, yeah, right kiddo, like 'pal', right."

"Sit down kids." Rebecca said, seeing an opportunity to bail the boy out.  "I'll get you some cookies and hot chocolate."

"Thanks Miz Cunningham." Kit said, glad for the distraction.  The two cubs sat at the table.

"How old are you, honey?" Rebecca asked, setting the cookie jar on the table.

"Fourteen and a half." the white cub replied. 

Baloo creased his brow at Kit.  The boy opened the cookie jar and handed Sasha a cookie.  "Here Baloo." the boy said, handing the big bear two.  "You look hungry.  Stick these in your mouth."

Rebecca poured the steaming liquid into two mugs, handed them to the cubs and then filled one for herself, sitting at the table.  "Do you go to school with Kit, Sasha?"

"No, Ms. Cunningham, I go to a private school."

Odd.  The girl didn't dress like the private school type.  Rebecca should know, she'd been one herself.  "Are you in the eighth grade?"

"Yes Ms. Cunningham."

"Mmmff." said Baloo, cookie crumbs flying out of his mouth.

"I really must to leave, I'm afraid." Sasha said, slurping her hot chocolate daintily and standing.

"So soon?" Rebecca asked

"Yes, my fazzer, he worry about me, so I going home early."

"I'll walk you outside." Kit said hastily, standing.  

"Nice to have meeting you." Sasha bowed slightly to Rebecca, then Baloo, and turned to occompany Kit outside.

"Good bye Sasha, nice to meet you too." Rebecca said

"Yeah, see ya Darlin." Baloo chimed in.  The two cubs walked out, Sasha turning to wave as they did.

Baloo scratched his head.  "Strange girl, huh Beckers?"

"I thought she was very sweet.  And Kit certainly thinks so too, Baloo."

"You ain't kiddin'.  Gonna have to get him lead shoes just to keep his feet on the ground at this rate."

"Oh come on now Baloo, are you telling me you never had a crush on someone at that age?  An 'older woman', beautiful, exotic accent..."

"Yeah, that is exotic ain't it.  I wonder where she's from.  Oh well, couple of days he'll fergit he ever knew 'er.  I'm gonna take me a nap, rest up for bed later." the bear said, heading up to the bedroom.  Rebecca watched him go, shaking her head.

Kit and Sasha strolled down the dock.  "Wanna see the Sea Duck before you go?" Kit asked her.

"Sure, Keet."  The two bears walked through the cargo door and up to the cockpit.  Kit sat in the pilot's seat and Sasha sat on the arm of Kit's chair.

"Sorry 'bout Baloo!" Kit said with a shake of the head.

Sasha laughed.  "Sorry for what?  I think he is very sweet - and charming.  And I think he thinks you are very special, for a man who is not your -  father." she said, pronouncing the last word carefully.

"He's _something_, that's for sure."  Kit swiveled in Baloo's chair, running his hands along the instrument panel.  "I'm gonna be a pilot some day, just like he is..."

"I'm sure you will.  I can see in your eyes it is true.  And now I must go, Keet.  Perhaps I will see you tomorrow?"

"Same time, same tree!" he answered with a grin.

The sun was out -this was indeed a rarity in Grelspach People's Prison Camp.  The blazing orb took some of the bite off of the chill, but the rays reflected off of the all-consuming snow pack with devastating brilliance, causing all of the laborers to squint and cover their eyes during their work shifts.  For Isaac Walschinsky, this meant a blinding headache at dusk, to go along with his usual assortment of aches and pains.

As he trudged back to his cell after his twelve hour shift, he tried to think through his headache, attempting to place together the events of the last few days.  The more Isaac thought about it,. the less he thought that the two covert messages he had received were coincidence.  The world just didn't seem to work that way.  

He tried not to assume the worst , but it was hard to think otherwise.  Clearly, the most simple explanation was that someone, somehow had discovered the locations of both Baby Bird and the nest, and had recently visited both.  But that was too horrible to think about.  There must be another explanation, somewhere...

Sgt. Krupp grabbed his arms and guided him into his cell.  Another day in paradise.  Isaac lay back and closed his eyes, trying to block out the blinding glare from the day's sun that was still visible, even behind closed eyelids.  After a few moments, he heard the slot in his cell door slide open, and saw Krupp's face on the other side of the bars.  The glare was a little better now.  To his surprise, there was an orange on the tray next to the turnips and moldy bread - how was this possible?  Fresh fruit for a prisoner?  He looked up at the bars, and Krupp briefly met his gaze, then walked away.  Greedily, the white bear pounced on the orange and devoured it, leaving no scrap of pulp or juice unconsumed.  Incredible, it tasted so good!

Panting from the frantic exertion of devouring the orange, he sat back.  He looked at the tray, then at the cell door.  Pursing his lips, he reached out for the orange peel, and devoured it in two bites, grimacing.  Better safe than sorry.

Kit was amazed at how much easier it had become to talk to Sasha , although he still found that he was doing most of the talking.  The white bear mostly listened, smiled occasionally, and looked out over the water, off into the distance.  The edge had come off of his jitteriness; he was still a little awestruck by her presence, when he thought about it, but there were at least stretches where he could forget, for a while, and just relax.

They had traipsed what had become their favorite route; downtown, around the fountain, through Khan park, stopping to look at the goldfish in the pond, and back to the harbor, a mile north of Higher for Hire, strolling slowly over that last mile along the water.  On the way back, Kit had decided to try something truly bold - he reached out for Sasha's paw and tentatively grasped it.  When she didn't object, he firmed his grip, and they clasped hands for the rest of the walk.  Sasha didn't seem to mind.

Neither cub had spoken for a few moments, when Sasha suddenly turned to the brown cub and smiled.  "You know what I would like?"

Kit, his thoughts concentrated on the electric sensations in his paw, was jolted out of his reverie by the sound of her voice.  "What's that?"

"I would like to go on a _run_ with you and not-your-father, in your Sea Duck." she said smiling.

"Really?  You want to go on a cargo run with me an' Baloo?  Don't you fly all the time with your Dad?"

"My father, his job is very boring." she said.  "He doesn't like to take me with him, so I rarely get a chance to fly.  Besides-" she grasped Kit's paw in both of hers,"I want to see you fly your Sea Duck.  I think it makes you very happy."

"We -I- love to fly.  It's what I live for." Kit said.  "Tomorrow is Saturday, we have a delivery in Pazooza, if you'd like to come-"

"Oh Keet, I would love to!  I've never been to Pazooza.  Will your Baloo or Ms. Cunningham mind?"  Kit grimaced for a moment. "Oh, if this is going to be difficult-"

"No, never mind." the boy said resolutely.  "Just be at Higher for Hire at 7:00 in the morning, and I'll take care of the rest.  It'll be great!"

"I don't know Kit, after that last time, I'm not sure if I want to.."

"Puh-leeze, Miz Cunningham?  She reeaalllly wants to fly with me - with us - , she won't be any trouble, I promise!"

Baloo sat back, eating a banana, and watched the conversation with a slightly bemused look on his face.

"What about that whole mess with what's his name, that Vendercyle boy, whatever his name was..."

"Aw, that was different, Miz Cunningham!  That was an adventure - this flight is gonna be strictly routine!"  Baloo arched an eyebrow.  "Besides. Oscar VanDerSnoot an' me got our pictures in the paper, and he got into the Jungle Aces!  It worked out great!"

"You know Kit, it's not always a good thing to get your picture in the newspaper."

"Aw c'mon Beckers, give the kid a break!" Baloo finally interjected himself into the conversation. "If I can handle Don Karnage and every crook on the seven seas, I think I can handle one fourteen year-old cub.  Besides," he said, standing and smiling in Rebecca's face, "ain't you never been young before, Becky?"

"Weeellll.....all right, I guess she can fly.  But I want a permiss-"

"Yes!!" Kit shouted, as he and Baloo exchanged a slap of hands.

Rebecca groaned and began loading her briefcase. Why was it always two against one around here?  "Three children." she thought.  "I'm a single mother with three children..."

Baloo and Kit were sweating in the morning sun as they loaded the cargo - fifty crates of postage meters - into the hold of the Sea Duck.  Wildcat was sitting atop the port wing, the engine cover open.  Kit glanced at his watch: 6:50.

"Um, thanks for stickin' up for me last night Papa Bear." he said as they loaded the last of the cargo and headed for the cockpit to perform the preflight checks.  "Sasha really wanted to fly with us, an'-"

"Don't sweat it, L'il Britches." Baloo plopped down in the pilot's seat and stretched.  "I been there."

"Er, well.. there's just one thing....."

Baloo yawned and looked over at the cub.  "What is it, L'il Britches?  Spit it out!"

"Um , if you wouldn't mind, well, not calling me 'L'il Britches'...."

"Kit!"  Baloo was surprised.  Kit could immediately see that he'd hurt the bear's feelings.

"No!  That's not...  Y'know, I really like it - a lot.  It means a lot to me, actually." Kit said, blushing.  "But maybe just not when Sasha's around..."

Baloo smiled  "Oh, I get it.  OK, if that's what you want. that's what you got..._Ace_!"

"Thanks Baloo!" the cub said, jumping up and giving the grey bear a quick hug.  "I'm gonna go wait for Sasha outside."

"No problem kid, I'll do the pre-flights." He stuck his head out the window, just as Wildcat slammed the engine cover.  "How's the port engine, Wildcat?"

"Tippy-top shape, Baloo.  Rarin' as a fiddle, and fit to go."

"Better be." he muttered.

Sasha was strolling down the waterfront when Kit emerged from the Sea Duck.  She wore a small khaki backpack along with her grey shirt.  "Hello, Keet!" She smiled as she approached.

"Hi Sasha.  Great to see you.  You look, um, nice today."

"Thank you!"  She said, extending her hand, which the brown cub eagerly took in his own.

"G'mornin', beautiful!" Baloo boomed, sticking his head in greeting.  "Welcome aboard!"

"Thank you sir." replied the white cub.

"Names Baloo, honey.  Only one I ever needed.  Sirs and Misters don't sound too good on a pilot, if ya ask me."

Baloo reached down and helped first Sasha, then Kit into the cockpit.  Kit assumed his seat and Sasha settled in behind his chair.  Baloo started the engines and set the mix.  "Course to Pazooza set, ace?" he asked Kit.

"Course plotted and ready, skipper!"

"Pull chocks?"

"Pull chocks!"

With a roar, the yellow seaplane turned, zoomed out into the open water and into the sky, headed for the cliffs.

"Fraid this little joyride isn't gonna be too excitin' for you, Sasha.  Standard issue cargo run, I'm afeared."  He guided the Sea Duck through the cliffs.

"That is all right, Mr. - Baloo.  I'm sure it will be quite exciting enough for all of us."

"Pazooza's pretty neat, tho'." said Kit.  "As long as you don't hafta make any deadlines at the sweepstakes office, huh Baloo?"

The big grey bear chuckled.  "Yeh, kiddo, our routine trips have a way of bein' more excitin' than we think they're gonna be.  Howz that sound to you, Snowflake?" he turned to the white cub.

"Unexpected excitement is the most exciting kind."

"Hah!  Guess that's true, snowy."

"Clear of the cliffs, skipper.  Twenty -nine degrees north-northwest."

"Twenty-niner, gotcha."  Baloo turned slightly and gave Kit a sly wink.  "Take the stick for a while, OK ace?  I'm gonna head back and get us some sodas."

Kit puffed out his chest, smiling gratefully at Baloo.  "Roger that skipper, I've got the wheel."  he turned and gave Sasha a grin, which she returned.  Baloo, heading into the hold, tripped over Sasha's backpack.  She snatched it away hurriedly.

"Oops!  Sorry honey, didn't see that there.  Hope ya don't have any breakables in there."

"No, I am sorry Baloo, I shouldn't have left it there, very careless of me.  No, no breakables inside."

Isaac Walschinsky was not a great believer in intuition.  He was an engineer, a scientist, first and foremost.  He hadn't asked for so many people to turn their lives over to him - it had just kind of happened.  

Still, after so many brushes with death, all-or-nothing scrambles, and covert missions, he had grown to accept that sometimes things happened which the mind could not predict, but the soul was expecting.  It was wrong to always evaluate a situation based on the facts.  Sometimes, you had to trust your gut.  And Isaac Walschinsky's gut told him that something important was going to happen today.

The only problem was, he had no idea what it was.  That was the trouble with your gut - it was never very specific.  But today he felt a new vigor in his legs, a new sharpness in his mind.  He had dreamed of his little one last night.  It was the first dream that he could remember for many weeks - hardly surprising he would dream of her, what with the news he had received, but still.

"Back to WORK!"  Sgt. Krupp's voice jolted him out of daydream.  You couldn't afford to daydream if you wanted to survive in this place.  Krupp advanced on him, rifle raised.  The white  bear cowered, awaiting the blow.  Krupp paused, lowered the rifle and walked away with a sneer.  Exhaling, Walschinsky raised his hammer and resumed his labors.

"Thirty miles south-southwest of Enchilada Island, skipper.  Keep this heading."

"Roger that."

Kit surveyed the sky before them.  "Pretty good cumulonimbus out there, Baloo.  Whaddaya say I hit the clouds for awhile?"

"Hit the clouds?" Sasha asked.

Baloo chuckled.  "Yeah sure, knock yerself out kiddo."

Kit reached under his sweater and pulled out his airfoil.  He unstrapped from his chair, grinned at Sasha and headed into the cargo hold.

"Where is he going?" the girl asked, confused.  "And what is that - board?"

"Ya wouldn't believe it if I told ya, Snowflake." the pilot answered with a laugh.  "Just watch."

Baloo opened the rear hatch, Kit grabbed the rope and with a press of a button and a flick of the wrist, soared out into the huge, puffy clouds.

"Waa-HOO!" he bellowed, a spray of white vapor shooting out from under his board.

"I don't believe it!" the girl gasped, mouth agape.

"Told ya darlin'.  Kit's head's been in the clouds the last few days anyway, his body may as well be there too."

Kit was exhilarated.  What a day!  Perfect cloudsurfing conditions.  It just didn't get any better than this.

In the cockpit, Sasha continued to watch Kit's aerial acrobatics in stunned silence.  Baloo looked over at her.  "Kit wouldn't want me tellin' ya this, Snowflake, but he's showin' off for you.  Actually, he's pretty nuts over ya if ya ask me."

Sasha frowned, not the reaction Baloo had expected.  "Yes, I know Baloo.  He is....very sweet boy."

"Oh, you know, doya?" Baloo laughed.  "So, ya like him too then, do ya?"

"Yes, I - like him, very much."  A tear formed and gently rolled down her cheek.

"Whassa matter, Sasha?  Did I say somethin' wrong?" Baloo asked, concerned.

"No, is nothing Baloo.  I am sorry.  I...I... have something in eye."

Baloo frowned, and glanced back at Kit.  "That's long enough, I think.  Kid starts to make mistakes when he gets tired."  Baloo reached out and signalled to Kit, then pressed the button to retract the tow rope.  Within moments Kit was back in the cargo hold and the doors were closed.  "Sure yer alright, Snowflake?"

Sasha peered back at Kit, who was walking grinning towards the cockpit, board under his arm, and puffing with exertion.  The girl looked down.  "Yes, I am all right, thank you.  I am all right...."

Kit retracted the board and stowed it under his sweater.  With a grin at Sasha he leapt into his chair and strapped in.  "Man, what a perfect day for cloudsurfing!  I coulda stayed out there all day!"

"Yeah, but you woulda left yer friend in here all day with nothin' but ol' Baloo for company!  And I thought you liked the girl!"  The pilot looked back at the girl.  "What'd ya think about that, darlin'?"

Sasha placed a hand on Kit's shoulder.  "Is it not - dangerous?"

"Nah, I've doin'' it since I was a kid.  It's the best!  Maybe I can teach you how to do it sometime, Sasha.  Sasha?" He asked again, after the girl did not reply.

The white cub was leaning against the bulkhead, a forlorn expression on her face.  "I am all right, Keet, I just feel a little... tired."

"Oh!  OK, no problem."  The boy looked at Baloo with concern, and the big bear shrugged.  

The Sea Duck flew along in silence for a time, as neither her crew of guest said anything.  Finally, Baloo turned to the girl..  "You feelin' better, Sasha?"

The girl smiled wearily and nodded.  Kit was distinctly uncomfortable for some reason. He turned to his maps.  "Baloo, we're gonna need to change heading. We need a twelve degree turn to the west."

"Roger that, kid, twelve degrees west."  From behind, they heard Sasha unzip her pack.  As Baloo prepared to turn the Duck, she finally spoke.  

"I am sorry, very very sorry." She said in forlorn voice.  Bear and cub turned.  The white cub held a small pistol in her hand.  "I am going to have to ask you to take the plane to Thembria."

STAY TUNED FOR THE CONCLUSION IN PART II, COMING RIGHT UP!


	2. The Conclusion

**GIRL TROUBLE**

**PART II**

The northern forests were bathed in their usual grey pallor on this day. Yesterday's bout of sunshine had apparently been a one day aberration, as was usually the case. The polar bears were slowly and laboriously demolishing an old stone wall, a remnant of some freeholding that had graced the site long ago. Periodically, they stopped to blow on their hands, fighting the bitter cold wind as it whipped through their tattered gloves. A squadron of blue uniformed warthogs slowly marched around them, periodically barking commands and insults.

The hammer felt less heavy than usual to Isaac Walschinsky. His euphoria of this morning was gone, replaced by a kind of steady weariness, but he felt none of the usual crushing fatigue that normally accompanied his labors. "This is the trap." he thought. "They can't destroy you unless you're willing to be destroyed..." A light snow began to fall gently through the air.

"THEMBRIA?!" Baloo exclaimed. Kit jaw dropped and he stared at the girl wordlessly. "Listen girl-"

"I am sorry." the cub responded gloomily. "There is no other way. I must go to Thembria. You will take me."

"Oh, man!" Kit moaned, covering his face with his paws.

"Thembria! I knew I recognized that accent." Baloo said. "Why Thembria, kid? Why would anyone want to go back there?"

The girl merely sat, a bleak look of resolution on her face. She said nothing. Baloo turned to Kit. The boy was slumped in his chair, face in hands. Baloo sighed and placed a paw on the boy's shoulder. He looked back at Sasha. "Y'know girlie, I can't just waltz into Thembria and say hello. They're gonna shoot us down as soon as we get into their airspace!"

"There is a way. There is a gap in their air defense. I will show you where it is. Kit will chart a course-"

The boy whirled, jumping out of his chair. Desperately, Baloo grabbed him by the collar of his sweater. "Chart a course! Why would I help you, you, you... You betrayed me!"

The girl frowned, a look of hard bitterness crossing her delicate features. "I do not like this. I do not do this because I like it. It must be done, and you will do it! And I must ask you to please, sit down!"

Kit grabbed his cap in his hands and twisted it fiercely. With a scowl he turned and sat in his chair, hurling the cap to the floor. He sat for a moment, staring straight ahead. Baloo turned back to the girl, who said nothing. Gently, he reached down, grabbed the cap and placed it back on Kit's head, giving it a turn to face the bill backwards. Sasha smiled a sad smile.

Silently, Kit unfolded a map and placed in on his lap. "Six degrees northeast, straight and true." he whispered. "Straight to Thembria."

They flew in silence for a time. Surreptitiously Baloo glanced back at Sasha, who sat arms folded, knees drawn up, behind Kit. The gun dangled in her right paw. "She wouldn't actually use that thing, would she?" he thought to himself. "Can I take the chance? She's a strange l'il thing..."

Kit finally spoke, beside him. "I'm sorry Baloo - Papa Bear."

Baloo returned his paw to the cub's shoulder. "You got nothin' to feel sorry for, kid."

Clearly, Kit was a mess of conflicting emotions fighting to reach the surface. "I - I, shouldn't have gotten you into this. How stupid could I be? How could I think that...well.. how could I think that a girl like... that a girl would actually be interested in someone like me.

"Kit -"Sasha started.

"That's allright, L'il Britches. You ain't the first guy to get taken in by a woman, and ya won't be the last." He shot a glare at Sasha." "S'happened to me often enough..."

"Stupid, stupid, stupid!" the boy muttered. Clearly, it was anger he preferred to allow to show right now. Perhaps if he stayed angry enough, he wouldn't let anything else out..."You're just some stupid little kid, that's all. What were you thinking. Haven't you learned anything? Stupid!"

"Kid - "

"Let somebody get inside you like that! Haven't you learned anything?" the boy clenched and unclenched his fists repeatedly as he muttered, barely audible.

Sasha leaned forward. "Keet, you are not stupid. I-"

"Shut UP!" the cub yelled, without turning. "Just shut up." He picked up the map and held it in front of his face, and didn't remove it for long moments. Baloo let his paw rest on Kit's shoulder, as it gently rose and fell under his gentle grip.

The three bears, grey, white and brown, sat in silence for long minutes that felt like hours as the old seaplane lumbered towards Thembria. Below them, the water began to be pockmarked by small ice chunks,, which soon gave way to tiny icebergs, which got progressively larger as the plane flew north. Pockets of slate grey clouds dotted the brilliant azure sky, gradually becoming thicker.

"Gonna be in Thembrian airspace soon." Baloo said, softly. Neither cub responded.

He turned the young bearess. "Kin I ask you a question, little lady?" Resignedly, she gestured for him to continue. "Is yer dad really in Cape Suzette?"

She sighed. "No."

"Well then, how did you get there, from Louie's? I mean-"

"She stowed away. With us." Kit spoke up beside him in a bitter voice. "Isn't that right, Sasha?" he turned to address her directly for the first time in long moments.

The girl sighed again. "Yes, it is true, Keet Cloudkeecker."

"So why didn't you just stow away again? Why all the - I mean - well, why not just stow away again, and then pull the gun?" Baloo asked.

She looked him directly in the eyes. "Because I could not take any chances. I could not risk deescovery while we were still on the ground. I had to be certain I would get to Thembria."

"Glad I could help!" Kit said bitterly.

"But WHY, little gal'? I mean what's so goldanged important that you needed to do all that, an' pull a gun on Kit 'n me, just to get to Thembria? We're goin' anyway, kid - you've got the gun, so ya may as well tell us!"

"What does eet matter?" the girl asked, wiping her brow.

"Yeah Papa Bear, what's it matter? She's a stowaway, a hijacker. May as well be an air pirate! What more do you need to know?" Kit snorted. A sob escaped Sasha's clenched lips.

"Cause I wanna know, L'il Britches. I wanna know why a fourteen year old cub makes a fool of my best friend and then sticks a gun in my face!" Baloo put on the autopilot - a large crowbar jammed under the wheel - and got up and stood next to the girl. "Tell me Snowflake."

The girl sat contemplating Baloo for a moment, a look of sad resignation on her face. She turned to look at Kit, but the boy was facing front, arms crossed. She turned back to Baloo.

"You want to know? I tell you. My father is imprisoned in Thembria. He is in a prison camp in the northern forests. I am going to... escape him, yes?"

Baloo arched an eyebrow at her. "How ya gonna do that, Sunshine?"

"I will find a way. My father teach me to never give up, so I will find a way."

"What about your mom? She in Thembria too?"

The white cub glanced away quickly, as if struck lightly. "No, she - she is dead."

Baloo pursed his lips grimly. "Lotta that goin' around, little girl. I'm sorry."

The girl took a deep breath, and continued. "My father, he is very hated by the Thembrian government. He knew that he was soon going to be arrested, that he will never be allowed to leave Thembria. His face is well known. So he arrange a set of visa papers for me - forgeries. He send me to New Fedora - "

"New Fedora?!"

"Yes, New Fedora. He send me there to live with some - friends, you may say. People who will not be suspected. He tell me that he will be arrested within days, that I should live quietly in New Fedora, he will come for me someday."

The girl stifled a sob. "But I hear a few weeks later that he is in prison camp, in Grelspach, in the north, a terrible place. No one ever leaves there - at least not alive. And I knew that I would have to save him."

"So you was actually in New Fedora? That mean you hitched on with us then?" The girl nodded. "So you snuck on in New Fedora, got off at Louie's and got off in Cape Suzette! But hold on, now - why did you get off at Louie's? Why not just stay hid on the Duck?"

"I had - business - at Louie's. And I wanted Kit to see me there, so that when he saw me later, in Cape Suzette..." she shot a look of remorse at the boy, who by now had turned and was listening with his eyes as well as his ears.

"I still don't get it tho'! How'd ya know we were gonna stop at Louie's?" the pilot asked, scratching his cap.

The girl smiled. "I sabotaged the engine while the plane was in New Fedora. Nothing so we would crash, but... I rigged it so the engine would fail while we were in mid-flight. I knew with one engine you would fly on, but stop at first posseeble place for repair. There is no other repair between New Fedora and Cape Suzette..."

"YOU did that?" Kit asked, sounding impressed.

Baloo let out a long, low whistle. "You are somethin' else, Snowflake. Where'd ya learn a hinky trick like that?"

"My father was - is- a mechanical engineer. Build many airplane engines. He teach me many things, and I pay attention. He teach me to be able to take care of myself, if I need to."

"But where was you stayin' in Cape Suzette all this time?"

"I sleep in park. Is warm, I do not mind. I do it for my father. I take some money with me from New Fedora, for food..."

Kit glanced down at his map, and checked his compass. "Papa Bear, we're just about ten miles out of Thembrian airspace. If we're gonna-"

"Well, kiddo?" the pilot asked Sasha.

"You're approaching the main land mass right now. Stay on the west coast, about ten miles offshore. There's a small inlet about a hundred miles up the coast. They have no air defense stationed there. You should be able to turn inland and get close to Grelspach without being spotted."

Baloo got back into the pilot's seat and buckled in. "Yer the boss, Snowflake. Hijacking or not, ol' Baloo doesn't want to get shot down..."

At Thembrian Air Command, it had been a quiet day. Everyone was a little grouchier than normal - they had run out of HT-77 Brewing forms, so they had been unable to make coffee. To top that, the High Marshall had cancelled Six O'clock, so they had missed their dinner.

Seated at a large control panel, a hulking blue warthog had a pair of oversized headphones held up to his ear. "What? I can't hearink you!! What, OK, I tell him." He spun in his chair. "Major Sprutnik, sir!"

"Yes, Sargeant, what is it now?" Sprutnik asked, without opening his eyes. He was considerably smaller than the Sargeant, and sat on a tall chair in the center of the command room.

"Sir, one of our supply ships just reported an unidentified plane flyink north alonk the western coast. Shall I have it shot down sir?"

Sprutnik thought for a moment. "No, our next shipment of aircraft ammunition isn't scheduled to arrive until Thursday. Notify the High Marshall."

"He's havink his snout waxed today, sir!" said another uniformed warthog on the opposite side of the room.

"Oh very well, notify the Commander of Air Defenses then, and have a couple of fighters follow it at a distance. We'll just keep an eye on them and see what they're up to..."

Baloo nervously studied the skies. "So far so good, no sign of any blue meanies headed our way." He turned back to Sasha. "OK Snowflake, somethin' else I gotta ask. Just how the heck did you decide to latch on to me and the kid here?"

Sasha returned the big bear's stare. "Beacause you have a - reputation - Baloo. I listened to the pilots at the bars and restaurants. I talked to the boys I knew who loved airplanes and flying. And many, many people talk about the legendary pilot Baloo - and about the amazing young boy who rides on the clouds. Even in Thembria they talk."

"Really?" Kit asked.

"They do, Keet Coudkeecker. I always hear you are the best, Baloo, the best pilot in the world. And I need the best to get me into Thembria, if there is any trouble. I linger around airfield in New Fedora, every day. When I see yellow plane, it looks like what I am told is yours, I sneak on board." She turned to Kit. "I am only thinking, 'I will go with Baloo, I will find a way to get him to take me home - to Thembria. I am not knowing how. Then I see Kit, though window of plane, in New Fedora. On way to Louie's, I get idea. I... I am very sorry, Keet. I did not want to hurt you - you are brave, kind boy. You are so sweet to me, make plan very difficult...but I must get home, my father needs me."

Baloo saw his young navigator's eyes flash with emotion and turmoil. He tapped the map on the plane's dashboard. "Kit, how much farther til we turn inland?"

The boy turned, a strange look on his face which Baloo couldn't read. He looked at the map, then at the coastline. "That should be the inlet there, Baloo, two o'clock." The cub gripped the armrests of his chair tightly and looked away from Baloo, directing his gaze out the window.

"Well, Sargeant, what is the news?" Major Sprutnik asked the large warthog, who had the headphones held up to his ear.

"The plane has turned inland sir, at Tipski Bay. The fighters reported that it was a cargo plane of some sort, no weapons visible. It should be crossink into Thembrian airspace at any moment. Unfortunately the fighters had to turn back, they were only allowed to fill the gas tanks on days with an "E" in them this week, so they ran out of fuel."

"Blasted economy measures! Very well, prepare the Commanders personal plane and escorts, and inform him of the situation. I'm sure he'll want to attend to it personally..."

"Just follow this inlet until it ends, and then turn due northeast, the prison camp is about ten miles further in that direction." the girl told Baloo.

"Roger that." the big bear replied.

Kit, who had been silently staring out the window, suddenly turned and stared at Sasha. "Why is your father in prison?" he asked her sharply

Sasha was startled by the intensity in his voice. "I tell you, because the government hates him."

"But WHY? Why does the government hate him? What is this really all about?"

Sasha looked at Kit sadly. "Oh Keet, you are very sweet. Do not pretend to understand, it is not something-"

"Now listen!" the boy interrupted. "Don't tell me what I don't understand! I've been kidnapped. I've been shot down out of the sky. I've fought bastards like Don Karnage all over the seven seas!" A sob escaped the boy's chest. "I've lived with air pirates! I was a damn pirate! I've---I've---s-stood, and watched people die, watched those evil... watched them kill people and not been able to - and not done anything to stop it! So don't tell me what I don't understand. Just tell me the truth!" Tears rolled down his cheeks. "Just tell me the truth." he said again, quietly this time.

Baloo protectively put a paw on Kit's back. Sasha studied him silently for a long moment. "Very well, Keet Cloudkeecker. I will tell you. My father is - he is - well, the government will call him a traitor, yes?" She smiled bitterly. "The government of Thembria will call all of my people traitors.

For a very long time, we have lived in our homeland in the north of Thembria, although not always was it Thembria. The people of Thembria, in the cities, in the south - they live, what seems, very poorly, yes? You have been to Thembria. Perhaps you have seen." Baloo nodded.

"My friends, they live poorly, it seems, but they have electricity. Some have cars. They live in houses. They have jobs. My people, we live in shacks, in shelters, wherever we can. We are not allowed to practice our beliefs. We are not allowed to have any high level jobs. We are forced to carry identification cards. We can not travel freely, even within Thembria."

But...why?" Baloo asked.

"Because we are different, kind man." she said. "We look different, we speak differently -although not so much, perhaps, that a Cape Suzetter - is that what you say, Cape Suzetter? - could tell. We are a very old people, with very old ways, and they are not the ways of the Thembrians. And my people have fought against the Thembrians for many years. We have fought their brutality, their oppression. We have fought to be free to live our lives as we choose."

"So what's so special about your dad?" Kit asked the white cub, holding his face in his hands "Why do they pick on him so much?"

The girl smiled ruefully. "We are not a large society of people. Nearly all of us live inside the Thembrian borders. We are what the Thembrians call an 'internal problem'. And the rest of the world can ignore us with ease. My father, he was a brilliant student, a brilliant engineer. His brilliance was useful to the government.

My father tried had escaped Thembria established a network across the world.

I stayed awake late many nights, nights when my father think I am asleep, I am sure." the white cub smiled at the memory. "Many midnight conversations by candlelight while he thought I slept, but I was not asleep. I listen, and I hear much. I learn. And now, I know much. And I know most of all that I must rescue my father, for if I do not he will not live. I know this, with all my heart."

"Wow!" Baloo said. "That's quite an earful, Snowflake. I-"

"I believe you must be turning the plane now, yes? I have been talking for a long time." she pointed out the window, where the inlet they had been following abruptly ended in a small lake. "The camp is due northeast of this point Please, you will land as close to the camp as possible, yes? Your plane will be spotted, so there is no point in subtlety."

"What then, Snowflake?"

She looked out the window again. "I will be rescuing my father. They will not be looking for a small white cub, I hope. We can-how is the word-camouflage? ourselves well in this landscape." She looked at the gun in her hand. "And, with good fortune, you will be able to escape and return to your home. You will be pursued, of course, but if you are half of the pilot I have heard, you will have a good chance." The cub sighed. "And perhaps one day I can atone for endangering your innocent lives."

Baloo glanced at his navigator. Kit stared silently out at the barren landscape below them. He said nothing.

Three slate gray Thembrian planes flew north, their dull hulls almost blending into the overcast, grim sky that served as their backdrop. The center plane was huge - a wide bodied hulk with four engines on each wing and a large Thembrian insignia on it's side. It was flanked on either wing by two much smaller twin-engine fighters.

On board the command plane, a small figure sat in a ludicrously high chair which stuck up from the floor of the plane like a diseased palm tree. In the cockpit, a pilot and co-pilot sat studying maps, the co-pilot periodically pausing to glance at his compass and bark out a course change.

"So you think it's Grelspach then"? the pilot asked his associate.

"There is nothink else of any strategic interest there, it must be."

"Sargeant!" barked the pilot, turning to face the hold of the plane.

A huge, friendly-faced blue warthog scurried up to the cockpit. "Yes, sir?

"Tell the Colonel that we are laying in a course for Grelspach. We are certain that is where the intruders are headed. We will arrive shortly."

"Yes sir." the figure replied in a voice that seemed far too high for such a huge figure. He scurried back into the cabin.

"There is an airfield on the north side of the camp." -Sasha said, leaning over the back of Baloo's chair to peer at the landscape. "I have seen no Thembrian planes in pursuit - perhaps we are fortunate, they do not see us. If you approach from the south, and fly low, perhaps we may be able to land undetected. That would be to both our benefits."

"Yeah, kid, but the question is where! Whole area's covered with trees, rocks..."

"Baloo! There!" Kit's sharp eyes had spotted something, and he pointed. "To the left of that clump of trees..."

"Bingo! Looks like a frozen lake or somethin', L'il Britches. Pretty small, but I might squeeze 'er in. Where's the camp, Snowflake?"

Sasha squinted. According to the maps I've seen, it should be directly over that wooded ridge there." she said, pointing at a small rise perhaps a quarter- mile from the lake.

"Ain't gonna do any better than that, I guess. Strap in, this could get a little bumpy." Baloo banked the plane and flew a wide arc, approaching the lake from the south. "Trees are too close, I can't fly over 'em and land on that fishpond - we'd slide right off and hit the trees on the far side like a battering ram!" he grunted. "Gonna have to go through 'em."

"Through - them?" Sasha asked nervously.

"You wanted the best kid, you got 'im! Hang on buckaroos, here we go..." Baloo brought the -plane down to just above the treetops, looking for an opening. "Here..we...GO!" the pilot yelled, and the Duck dove into a gap in the canopy. Green branches swirled in all around them. Frantically, Baloo banked and twisted the plane at every conceivable angle, shearing tree branches at a frenetic pace but desperately trying to avoid the trunks.

"Aiyee!" the girl screamed, as two large pine trunks appeared in their path. Baloo turned the plane on it's side, neatly splitting them.

"Just a few more seconds, baby!...There!" Baloo pointed to a large patch of white through the green mass. "Hope there's a few feet o' snow on that puddle, or we don't stand a chance. Can't stop this crate on ice...Hang on!" The Duck cleared the trees, and Baloo descended sharply. With a screech, the pontoons touched down on the smooth white surface and the yellow seaplane spun wildly out of control., tossing the cargo about riotously in the hold. Finally, the plane slowly slid backwards to a halt, the tail only a few yards from the edge of the encroaching trees.

"B-minus." Kit said, panting.

Baloo took off his cap and mopped his brow. "Hey, never said I was a scholar - just a darn good pilot." He rolled down his window and stuck his head out for a look. "Brrrr! Looks like a little bit o' fresh snow out there. Saved our bacon..." He rolled up the window and turned to Sasha. She was zipping her pack and strapping it on.

"Everything they say - I know now it is true. You are the finest pilot in the sky, Baloo." She turned to Kit. "And you are very brave, and very kind. I deceived you, but I tell you many true things, too." She reached up and gently touched the startled cub's cheek. "And if you are quick, you may be escaping before there is a pursuit. You will be in my thoughts, and my heart. This I tell you true, Keet Cloudkeecker. And one day, perhaps, you will forgive me." Quickly, she strode into the hold, opened the cargo door and was gone.

"What's goink on?" Sgt Krupp asked one of the other guards. Uniformed warthogs were frantically emerging from the guardhouse, and the prisoners had stopped to look on with curiosity.

"Lockdown!" Sgt. Hoddle answered. "Some unidentified plane in the area, and the Commander of Air Defense is here. They want all the prisoners in their cells immediately" Guards were roughly grabbing the bears and dragging them towards the cell blocks.

Krupp headed for Walschinsky and grabbed him by the scruff of his collar. "Drop the hammer. We're going home early today."

"What's going on?" Walschnsky asked.

"Just a little early relaxation, that's all. Nothing to concern yourself about."

In the guardhouse, several warthogs were milling around nervously. A guard entered and saluted. "Block two secured, sir!"

The Camp Commander grunted. Clearly, he resented all of the excitement on his watch. That idiot Air Defense Commander would be here soon to confuse things further. "Why me?" he thought to himself. Another guard poked his head in through the door.

"Block seven secured - sir!"

"Thank you Sgt. Krupp." the Commander replied, tiredly waving the guard away. At least he hadn't had to miss lunch today...

A light snow had resumed falling over Grelspach. The first faint hint of dusk was in the air. In a large stand of trees on a short hill overlooking the prison camp, a small white form darted from tree to tree, barely visible as a slightly darker shade against the white backdrop.

Sasha paused to rest for a moment, catching her breath. She leaned back against a tree and snuck a peek over her shoulder at the camp. A few guards milled around the main guardhouse, but she could not see any sign of the prisoners. Were they locked in their cells already? That didn't seem likely - unless...

The air was still and silent, the only noise the occasional rush of wind through the trees above her. She looked down at the gun in her hand. It looked much more puny and ineffectual now than it had when she had stolen it in New Fedora. "A little late for a change of plans now." she thought. The best idea still seemed to be to wait until dark, and try to sneak into the complex, somehow, and steal the keys to her father's cell. If she could even find his cell...

Still, it seemed like a good idea to get as close as possible while there was still daylight, see as much as she could of what she would be dealing with. There was a small stand of trees a few dozen yards further, down the hill. That would be her closest view. Taking a deep breath, she scurried along the snow in a low crouch, and, reaching the grove, sat back against a small birch and rested for a moment.

"What are we havink here?" A voice growled from behind her. Startled, the white cub turned to see a large blue unformed warthog sneering down at her.

"Well, well. Perhaps we have a trespasser in our midst! Such a tiny little thing, too. Where might you have come from?" Roughly, he grabbed her by the arm and yanked her to her feet.

The guard spun her around, and she felt his rifle jab her in the back. "Walk slowly straight down the camp, little vermin. I know someone who will be most interested in talkink to you!"

Stifling a sob, she started to walk. Could it all end like this, after all she had done to get here? It wasn't fair, not fair at all. There was a loud "thwoik!" from behind her, and the rifle no longer pressed her in the back. She spun, and was startled to see the Thembrian guard sprawl face down in the snow. "What - " she started to say. Then she saw the silver airfoil lying in the snow behind the guard. Looking up, she saw two figures, one large, one small, leave the cover of the trees and walk towards her.

Picking up his airfoil and stashing it back under his sweater, Kit turned to the girl and spoke softly. "If you'd asked, we would have helped you." There was more than a hint of bitterness in his voice.

"B-but..why? How?"

Baloo smiled down at her. "It's what we DO, Snowflake!" It's what we do."

Atten-TION!" a curiously high voice bellowed from outside the guardhouse. The soldiers inside, including the base Commander, immediately stood, with varying degrees of speed and crispness.

A huge, lumbering Sargeant stepped into the building and placed a small stepladder on the floor. "Announcing His Thembrianness, the Mighty of Heart, All-Respected leader of all - "

"That's enough, Theargeant!" a small voice piped, invisible behind the Sargeant's hulking figure.

"Sorry, Colonel!" the hulk apologized, stepping back. A tiny blue warthog entered the room and darted to the top step of the ladder.

"Greetings, fellow Thembrian patriots! My name is Colonel Thpigot! Perhaps you have heard of me?"

"Got any rope in that backpack, Snowflake?" Baloo asked, as Kit peered around a tree surveying the camp below.

"Yes, Baloo." She unzipped the pack and extracted a coil of rope, which Baloo then used to tie the unconscious Thembrian to a tree, biting off the excess rope in his teeth and handing it back to the girl. He stood back, thought for a moment, then ripped a shard of cloth from the guards uniform and gagged him with it.

"Best not to have him yellin' for help when he wakes up. Gonna have a humdinger of a pain in the noggin though -you really did a number on 'im, L'il Britches!"

Sasha had picked up the guards rifle, and was investigating it. "The barrel is bent - he must have fallen on it and trapped it against a rock." Sighing, she dropped it to the snow.

"Just as well, Darlin'." Baloo answered. "Those things ain't my style anyhoo. May as well take it though- might come in useful as a club. You got a plan, Sasha?"

The cub frowned. "Well, I think I wait till darkness, then sneak in, try to steal keys."

Kit finally spoke, still intently eyeing the compound "That won't work. We saw a plane landing on that airstrip from the top of the hill, and there's too much activity down there. They know something's up." The boy turned to his companions. "There's no point in waiting now - there's no element of surprise. Our best bet is to try to get in and out quick, before they get themselves organized."

Baloo scratched his head. "You may be right kid. But how do you reckon we get in there with all those guards runnin' around?"

Kit looked down at the camp again, then turned back, surveying the forest around them. "You know Baloo, that guard's uniform looks like it might just fit you..."

"But Colonel, I told you, we have a very tight security - "

"Thilence!" Spigot shouted. "As I told you, Commander, the High Marshall has entrusted this entire operation to me. As thuch, I will be rethponsible for all decisions. Thith reminds me very much of the Thembrian - Elbonian conflict of '31-"

"Was that when you tripped on the cat and sprained your ankle, Colonel?" Dunder offered hopefully.

"Dun-DER! You will be thilent until spoken to. Otherwise I will have you thshot!"

"Yes, Colonel. Thank you sir. Oh, the honor..."

"Will you thshut UP? Now then, Commander, thith ith were we will pothition the guardth while I thearch the area..."

Three figures were walking down the hill towards the camp. A large grey bear in a guard's uniform, too broad at the shoulders and too tight in the middle, held a rifle to the back of two bear cubs, one brown and one white, who marched in front of him, hands raised.

"This isn't going to work!" Sasha hissed. "You don't look like a Thembrian!"

"You got any better ideas, Snowflake?" the grey bear responded. "Besides, it's startin' to get dark, mebbe they won't get that close a look. We only need to fool 'em for a little while, not all night."

"Company!" Kit whispered. A lone guard approached them.

"What's this?" he demanded.

Baloo coughed, then spoke. "I, uh, found these two hidink in the woods. Just takink them in to detention."

"Children?" the guard asked. "Wasn't there supposed to be an airplane? Where's the pilot?"

"Er, the boy says he flew the plane. Strange foreign customs, huh? Go on, you two - hurry up, move along!" Baloo flashed a toothy grin at the guard and hurried after the cubs. The guard viewed them suspiciously, then shrugged and continued pacing his beat.

"That was close!" Kit hissed as they moved into the main compound. "Now what?"

"We find the galoot, and scoot!" Baloo whispered. "What's yer Daddy's name, Darlin'?"

"Walschinsky. Isaac Walschinsky." she whispered.

They came to a guard seated on a stool at the conjunction of two corridors. "Hey you!" Baloo said, trying to sound authoritative. ""We've captured the intruders. The...big shot said he wanted 'em locked in with Walschinsky. Where's 'is cell?"

The guard eyes Baloo, then looked down at the two cubs. "I don't remember seeing you before. Who are you?"

Baloo thought desperately. "I'm, uh. Sgt. Balooski. Of course you don't knowink me, idiot! I just arrived in big plane, with-"

"You're with the Air Defense Commander?" the guard asked, impressed.

"Yes! And the Commander will be having you in front of firing squad if you delay me any further! Now where is Walschinsky's cell?"

"Block seven, he's in block seven! Sorry!"

The three walked quickly past the guard. As soon as they were out of earshot, Baloo whispered in Sasha's ear. "Where's block seven?"

"I don't know! It could be anywhere."

"Well, let's just look around, it must be here somewhere."

"What about the keys?" Kit whispered.

"We better just find the cell first, then we'll worry about the keys." The corridor curved to the right, and voices could be heard from around the corner. Suddenly, they saw a very small Thembrian, flanked by three guards, one towering over the others, approaching.

"What is thith?" the small figure demanded.

"Not Col. Faucet!" Kit moaned under his breath.

"Oh, this is my mother's lucky button, Colonel." the largest guard said, holding out his sleeve. "She gave it to me when-"

"THShut up, you idiot! I wath talking to him!" he pointed at Baloo.

"Captured prisoner's Colonel." Baloo said. "Taking them to block seven."

"You look awfully familiar..." the tiny officer said. Kit, hands still above his head, hid his face with his elbows."

"Uh, maybe we went to - turnip school together, Spiggy?" Baloo asked. Kit groaned.

"Yeth, turnip thschool, I remember the old gang, what fun we had...Wait a minute! Thpiggy? You're that decadent soft-underbellied pilot Baloo, aren't you?" He looked at Kit. "And that little brat who thpoiled my perfect flounder! What are you doing here?"

"Running!" Baloo yelled, and the three bears turned, fleeing back down the corridor.

"Halt!" Two more guards stood, rifles raised blocking their path. There was no escape.

Walschinsky sat on his sleeping platform. He could hear some kind of commotion, somewhere out in the compound. It was impossible to tell what was going on, but clearly it was not a routine evening at Grelspach People's Prison Camp.

He turned, with a start, as he heard a noise from outside his door. A shadow fell across the bars. "Be ready!" a voice hissed. The shadow, and the voice, were gone.

Baloo, Kit and Sasha were marching down a corridor, hands raised, as Spigot, Dunder and two other Thembrian Soldiers followed close behind. Baloo turned to speak as he walked. "C'mon , now Spiggy, how can ya just turn yer head to all this? Don't it bother you to see folks treated this way?"

"I'll never forgive them for Grandma." Spigot said. "Besides, all we athsk is unconditional thupport for the gloriouth Thembrian cause!"

"Yeah, it's not like they have to eat anchovies, or something." Dunder offered helpfully.

"Dunder!"

"Sorry, Colonel!"

"But Colonel Hosepipe - " Kit began

"That's Thpigot!

"Sorry - Col. Spigot. Don't you know that all these people want is to be left alone? They aren't hurting anybody!"

"The cause of the glorious Thembrian victory ith thupreme - nothing else matters. It is not our place to question the directives of the High Marshall." They had arrived at a large cell at the end of the hallway. "Throw them inthide!" Spigot barked. The two guards complied as Spigot and Dunder looked on. The guards closed and locked the door.

"Lift me up!" Spigot commanded.

"Yes sir!" Dunder complied.

Spigot looked Baloo in the eye through the bars on the door. "Your decadent Cape Thuzette ways are indeed beguiling, my friend. But it ith our unity that makes uth powerful! You, with your dithagreements and lack of dithsipline, you are weak! And me? All of the world trembles when they hear the name of Thpigot!"

"Sorry, wrong number!" Baloo muttered.

"Theargant! Put me down!"

"Yes, Col. Spigot." Dunder complied, and the tiny Thembrian spun his heels and marched off.

"Dundy!" Baloo hissed.

"Oh, hi Mr. Baloo. How are you?"

"Dundy, you don't wanna do this, do ya? What'd these polar bears ever do to you?"

"The seem like nice folks..." Dunder replied.

Well then, do somethin'! These folks are gettin' stepped on!"

"I'm sorry, Mr. Baloo, I'm just following orders. Otherwise Col. Spigot would have me shot..."

"Dunder!" Spigot yelled from down the hall."

"Coming, Colonel! Bye, Mr. Baloo, Kit." Dunder turned and followed Spigot.

Sasha sat on the floor at the back of the cell, knees drawn up and head in hands. Kit sat next to her and put a hand on her shoulder. "Don't worry, things'll work out, you'll see."

The white cub sobbed softly once, twice. "Don't cry." Kit said in a quiet voice.

"I am a fool." the girl said. "To think that I could come here, against all these soldiers, and accomplish anything - I am a fool. And my deception has caused you to share my fate. There is no forgiveness for such treachery."

Kit took off his cap and held it in hand, staring at it for a moment. "Y'know, I've - deceived - some people before. I haven't always been proud of the things I've done. I've hurt people that I really cared about. I thought I was a pretty worthless person. But it just takes someone to believe in you, and that makes everything - different -somehow." He stared at the cap again.

"I always knew what kind of person I wanted to be. I just couldn't ever seem to be that person. But, when somebody else sees you, who you really are...it changes everything - I don't know how to describe it... After that, you can just follow your heart, do what it tells you. And that's when everything works out OK. You just have to trust your heart, and you'll end up in the right place, somehow." He smiled at Sasha, who was peering at him through clenched fingers, and put the blue baseball cap back on his head. "You'll see."

Walschinsky hadn't heard anything out in the compound for a while. Perhaps, whatever the commotion had been, it was now under control. What a shame that would be. He certainly felt as ready as he could possibly be - though he wasn't sure for what.

There was a slight click, as keys were quietly turned in the locks of his cell door. Walschinsky poised, prepared to defend - or attack, should circumstances warrant. The door slid open a crack. "Walschinsky!" a voice hissed. To Isaac's disappointment, it was Sgt. Krupp. Why was he whispering?

"Walschinsky!" the voice hissed again. "Get up! We're leaving!"

"What-"

"Quiet! The place is still crawlink with Spigot's hacks." Krupp grabbed Isaac's arm, and silently led him down a corridor, then another, and finally to a door. Several times they had to duck down to avoid detection. Krupp unlocked the door and led Isaac through it. They emerged into a small yard. There was an enormous pile of garbage, in large bags and cans, in one corner. Krupp led Isaac over to the refuse heap.

"Stay here, well hidden! And wait!" the Thembrian whispered

"But -why? Why are you -"

"No time." Krupp hissed. "There is a plane, and a pilot. I will collect them and meet you here."

"But - " Walschinsky began, but Krupp was gone, vanished back into the prison building. Shivering from the cold, Isaac burrowed down into the foul smelling heap, trying to hide himself from view. "Freezing my whiskers off in a pile of rubbish." he muttered. "It may not be enjoyable, but at least it's a change of pace..."

"Tho you thee, Commander, the glorious Col. Thpigot has the thituation well under control. Without any interference from you, I might add!"

"Yes, Col. Nozzle, well done." the Camp Commander muttered. Didn't the little fellow ever shut up?

"That's THPIGOT!! COLONEL Thpigot to you!" The diminutive warthog turned to Dunder. "Well, Dunder, it seems we have the thituatuion well at hand. The thpies are locked up, the plane is captured, and order is rethtored."

"Yes, Colonel. Does that mean we can get something to eat now, Colonel?"

"Dunder! Keep your mind on the task at hand, or I may have to reconthider giving your firing thquad the weekend off."

"Yes, sir. What should we do with the plane, Colonel sir?"

"The pilot is arrethted. Two guards thshould be thufficient. Tomorrow we will have it flown to the capitol. It will make a fine courthouse."

"But, Colonel, don't you think - " the Base Commander started to ask.

"Thilence! Do not tarnish my glorious victory with your prattle."

Baloo had joined his young companions along the wall of the cell. No one said anything for a while. The two cubs looked weary, Baloo angry. "Man, I hate just sittin' here, L'il Britches. I'm a bear of action." Sasha placed a hand on Baloo's arm and sighed.

"I'm here to relieve you, Sargeant." a voice said, outside the cell door.

"I'm not off duty for another hour. On whose orders?" said a second voice.

"These orders!" the first voice said. There was a sharp thud, followed by a louder one. All three prisoners rolled onto their feet, unsure what to expect. The door crept open, and a Thembrian stuck his head into the cell. "Come on - I have no time to explain, you must come with me!"

"Who are you?" Baloo asked suspiciously.

"A friend. You can believe me or you can stay in cell. Is your choice. Are you comink?"

"We must go with him, Baloo." Sasha said from behind him. "We must."

"OK Snowflake, let's go. Hope you know what I'm doin''. The three slipped through the door, stepping over the slumped form of an unconscious Thembrian guard. The Thembrian led them down the corridor. Behind them, the guard moaned, and crawled to his knees. Holding his head, he reached for a button on the wall.

The Thembrian led Baloo, Kit and Sasha through several corridors to a door, unlocked it, and stepped back, motioning them through. "Hurry!" They slipped past him, and he followed.

They were standing outside, under a stunningly bright night sky -the clouds had parted, and a full moon reflected white light off the snow-covered buildings and trees. They were in a yard of some kind; and a large heap of trash lay against a wall on one side. "Wait!" Sasha said. "I can't leave without-"

"Sasha?!" a voice said from the garbage pile. Isaac Walschinsky poked his head out of the heap of rubbish.

"Father!" Sasha exclaimed, rushing over to greet him in a tearful embrace. The others followed her.

"She is your daughter?" the Thembrian asked, surprised. "Of course!..."

"Yes, my daughter, my daughter, she is, Krupp." Isaac said, tears rolling down his cheeks. The girl sobbed in his arms. Kit and Baloo looked at each other, in awe of the scene playing out before them.

"I am sorry, but we have little time." the man they now knew as Krupp hissed. "You will be missed, and quickly. You have plane?" he asked Baloo.

"Uh, yeah, it's just on the other side of that ridge there - "

"What about the rest of the prisoners here?" Kit demanded.

"You must leave. That is the best thing that you can do for them."

A klaxon pierced the air, it's shrill tones deafening in the still night. "We must go -now!" Krupp shouted. "Hurry!" Isaac and Sasha Walschinsky got to their feet, and the five of them started up the hill.

They had covered about fifty yards when a voice shouted from down the hill. "Stop! Stop or we fire!"

"Go!" Krupp shouted. "Go!" Gunshots rang out in the night, hissing through the trees around them. They still had too far to go. Krupp stopped, and crouched behind a fallen tree trunk. "There will be a small guard at your plane. Good fortune to you all."

"Wait!" Baloo shouted, as the party halted. "You can't-"

"Go! Go! I will slow them down - is only way!" he opened fire on the guards tromping up the hill, who, surprised, scurried for cover.

Isaac knelt by the Thembrian, and placed a hand on his head. "I will not squander this sacrifice - that I promise you."

"Then go, and hurry!"

With a last look back, the quartet continued up the hill. Gunfire played out behind them, Short, staccato blasts from close by, followed by distant flurries in response. After a few moments, the staccato bursts stopped, and the flurries became more concentrated, as bullets whizzed through the night.

At last, they had reached the top of the hill. Below, on the frozen lake, the Sea Duck shone eerily in the brilliant moonlight. The pursuers appeared to be well behind them, still. Suddenly, Isaac screamed in pain.

"Father!" Sasha exclaimed.

Baloo and Kit knelt by the fallen polar bear. "Shot in the leg, Papa Bear! Doesn't look too bad, a flesh wound, but he's bleeding." A red stain had appeared on Isaac's right calf.

"No time for doctorin' now, L'il Britches!" With a grunt, Baloo hefted the white bear on his shoulders, and the three bears speedily descended the snowy hill in a kind of controlled fall. The Sea Duck was now only a few dozen yards ahead, on the lake, through another stand of trees. Isaac moaned in pain.

Two armed Thembrians milled about the plane, clearly agitated by the sound of gunshots. They wore a confused look, unsure of what was happening.

"I'll distract them -get father on board the plane!" Sasha hissed, and darted through the trees to the right.

"Sasha! Don't!" Baloo and Isaac said in unison.

"Kit!" Baloo gasped, as the brown cub dashed after Sasha. "Git back here!"

"I'll bring her back, Baloo, just get her father on the plane and start the engines!" The boy dashed off into the darkness.

"Dang fool kids!" Baloo muttered.

"Sasha - wait!" Kit gasped, running after the girl through the trees.

"You should have stayed with your Papa Bear, Keet." she panted "I am not important - my father must escape, and you should be with him!"

"We'll ALL escape, darn it!" Just wait up." He caught up with her, gasping for breath.

"You have your silver board?" she asked.

"Yeah, it's here." He pointed to his back.

"I will draw them to me, we will see what happens." She stepped out of the cover of the trees. "Hey!" she yelled at the startled guards. "I wish to surrender. There are too many soldiers." She took a several strides towards them, and stopped, raising her hands.

As Kit looked on, the guards warily approached the girl. "Don't move! hands on you head!" one of them shouted. Kit reached under his sweater and pulled out his airfoil.

"Come on baby, don't fail me now, don't fail me!" he whispered.

Baloo watched from the copse of trees, listening for the sounds of his pursuers. They couldn't be far away... Isaac lay at his side, panting for breath in the bitter cold, hand held over the wound on his leg. As Baloo watched, he heard a voice on the far side of the lake - it was Sasha. The two guards started slowly towards her.

"Time to go, Ike." he said grimly, and hoisted the polar bear on his shoulder again. He ran across the lake, the snowy surface dampening his footfalls. He could hear the shouts of his pursuers now, faintly, behind him. The guards, distracted by the girl, did not notice as he reached the plane. He opened the cargo door, hoisted the polar bear inside, and headed for the cockpit.

The guards were only a few steps from Sasha now. Kit hoisted his airfoil, closed one eye and grimly aimed. He would not get a second chance, he knew. With a flick of his wrist, he sent the silver board flying through the moonlit sky. It arced, turned, and hit the guard farthest from Sasha directly on the back of the head. he slumped, unconscious, to the ground.

"What -" the other guard exclaimed, turning, startled by the sound. Sasha leapt onto his back, wrapping both arms around his throat. The guard struggled wildly, his gun firing into the air. Kit jumped from his hiding place and dashed towards the struggling pair, as he heard the engines of the Sea Duck roar to life.

Baloo started the engines, just as the pursuing Thembrians began to appear in the trees he had just left. He turned the plane, preparing for the fastest possible takeoff. Through the window, he saw Kit rushing towards the Thembrian guard, the other slumped on the ground.

Isaac appeared in the cockpit doorway, dragging his leg. "What is happening?" he grunted through his pain.

"Gonna be a quick exit, Ike." Baloo said. "Gonna have to be..."

The Thembrian had fallen to his knees, trying to dislodge the young polar bear, whose arms were still w‚ƒ„…†‡ˆ‰Š‹ŒŽ''""þÿÿÿþÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿrapped tightly around his throat. Kit picked up his airfoil, and, silently apologizing to the Thembrian, whacked him solidly on top of the head. He slumped to the icy surface next to his companion.

"You allright?" he asked Sasha, helping the cub to her feet.

"Y-yes. Are they aboard?"

Kit surveyed the scene. The Ducks engines were roaring at full power, perhaps thirty yards away from them. To his horror, the pursuing soldiers had broken from the trees and were running towards the Sea Duck, no more than forty yards away. There wasn't going to be enough time!

Baloo, in the pilot's seat, had made the same conclusion. The soldiers fired their rifles, bullets hissing off the sea planes hull. Out of the corner of his eye, Baloo saw Kit and Sasha, hand in ahead, running towards the Sea Duck, not directly but at an angle, headed for a point somewhere ahead of the Duck's location. "They can't see the cubs! We're in between'em!" He started the plane forward along the lake surface.

"What are you doing?" Isaac gasped.

Kit ran towards the Duck, Sasha's hand in one paw, his airfoil in the other. "Go! Go!" he shouted. "The tow rope - release the tow rope!"

The Sea Duck gained speed across the surface of the lake. Baloo opened the rear hatch. "Isaac - you gotta go back there, release the tow rope, that button right there! Go!" The polar bear dragged himself back into the hold.

The rear hatch of the Sea Duck slid open as Kit and Sasha closed ground. The Duck was moving now, soon the soldiers would be able to spot them, it was going to be close... "The rope!" he yelled again.

To his immense relief, the tow rope finally appeared out the back of the Duck, the handle bouncing along the ice as the yellow seaplane gained speed. Only a few yards separated the cubs from the plane now, but it was moving faster than they were, and Baloo was running out of lake. The plane lurched into the air, the rope handle slowly rising off the surface. The soldiers, for the first time, saw the two cubs running to meet the plane, and shouted.

"Hang on!" Kit yelled, reaching for the rope handle, just a few inches... With a grunt of exertion he reached it with his left hand. "Grab my waist!" he shouted at Sasha. When she released his hand, he switched the airfoil to his right hand and pulled himself and Sasha atop it.

"Got em! Baloo yelled, looking over his shoulder and seeing that Kit had reached the rope. "Isaac, retract the tow rope, yesterday! Hurry!"

Bullets whizzed around the two cubs as they surfed through the sky behind the yellow seaplane. Slowly, the winch pulled and the rope was gradually retracted...

"Told you I was gonna teach you how to do this!" Kit yelled over his shoulder.

"Not gonna make it - them trees are too close!" Baloo shouted. "They'll cut the kids to bits! Hang on!" He yanked back on the wheel, and the Sea Duck lurched straight up into the air, then banked sharply, skimming the edge of the forest. They were flying back out over the soldiers now...

Only a few more yards separated Kit and Sasha from the safety of the cargo hold, but they were now directly over the heads of the soldiers. Bullets bounced off the bottom of the airfoil, as the tow rope inched towards the plane with agonizing slowness...

"They're in!" Isaac gasped. "Close the hatch!"

The rear hatched thumped closed, and Kit and Sasha collapsed in exhaustion in the cargo hold. The girl crawled to her father, and they embraced, quietly. Kit slowly walked to the cockpit and slumped into the navigator's seat.

-

"You allright, L'il Britches?"

"Barely. Pretty routine escape, huh?"

"Nice work, L'il Britches. We've still got some work to do. Airfield or not, I'm going straight out the north side. I ain't goin' through those trees again, and they sure as salt know we're here now!"

Sasha appeared in the doorway, tears rolling down her cheeks. "Do you have a medical keet on board?"

"Yeah, in back. Show 'er kid."

Kit walked into the cargo hold and grabbed the old first aid kit, handing it to Sasha. "Keet, I -I-" she weeped.

"Thanks, but just take care of your Dad. Baloo an' I will get us out of here." He smiled reassuringly. "We've been in worse spots before."

"Trouble, Kit!" Baloo shouted from the cockpit.

"What's up, Baloo?" Kit returned to his chair.

"Company." he said grimly. "Four Thembrian fighters just took off from that airfield."

"Perfect. Next time you see me talkin' to a girl. Baloo, just dump a bucket of water on my head!"

Baloo grinned. "Here they come, L'il Britches, time for ol' Baloo to earn his Shaboozies!"

"Sinks!" Kit shouted. "They're shooting sinks at us!" A large porcelain projectile narrowly missed the starboard engine.

"Must be another gunpowder shortage!" Baloo banked the plane sharply, then flew directly into the oncoming fighters, which turned wildly to avoid a collision. Two of the fighters collided, sending one hurtling to the canopy below. A parachute appeared just before a blinding explosion lit the forest. "One down, three to go!"

Bathroom fixtures pierced the air as the remaining three fighters resumed then chase. A double-basin kitchen sink bashed against the fuselage. "Too close!" Baloo said. "Hang on, kid!" Baloo yanked back on the wheel and soared higher into the air. The fighters followed.

Finally, the grey pilot leveled the plane off and banked west. The fighters pursued, continuing their basin barrage.

"Here we go!" Baloo shouted, and took the Duck into a steep dive. "If it's good enough for air pirates, it's good enough for Thembrians." He sent the Duck screaming downward towards Tipski Bay, which glimmered in the moonlight below them. The fighters lurched into pursuit.

"800 feet!" Kit shouted. "600, 400, 300, 250, 200, 150, 125, 100.."

"Showtime!" Baloo shouted, yanking the wheel back at the last possible moment. The yellow seaplane gently kissed the surface of the water, then gradually climbed into the moonlit sky. The three fighters, in pursuit, were not so fortunate - they crashed into the water's surface with a tremendous splash.

"Wa-HOO!" Kit screamed.

"YEEEHA, there's nuthin' like the classics, Kiddo!" Kit leapt onto Baloo's lap and threw his arms around his neck, bear and cub laughing uproariously.

From the cabin doorway, Sasha looked on, a look of sheer amazement on her face.

"They WHAT?!"

"They've escaped, Col. Spigot sir. Very, very sorry sir."

"How did it happen?!" the diminutive Commander asked.

"Well, sir, apparently the planes crashed into the ocean sir. Oh! But not the Sea Duck, Colonel. They didn't crash into the ocean." Dunder replied helpfully.

Spigot buried his snout in his hands. "The High Marshall won't like this, Oh my. I'll be in front of a firing thquad for thsure!"

"Oh, I don't think you have to worry, Colonel. That could never happen."

"Do you real think tho, Dunder?

"Of course not, sir. The penalty for allowing international spies to escape is being fed-"

"Thshut up, Dunder! I really don't want to know."

"How 's Isaac, little girl?" Baloo asked as the Sea Duck flew out over open water at last.

Sasha looked extremely weary, and her father lay with his head on her lap. "He is asleep. He lose a lot of blood. We must get him to a doctor, Baloo."

Kit studied his maps. "We're real low on gas too, Papa Bear. If you fly twenty six degrees south-southwest, we could get to Inkimo Island in about an hour. Maybe we can get fuel for the Duck and a doctor for Mr. Walschinsky."

"Sounds good to me, kiddo. I could use me some shuteye, too."

The sun shone brilliantly over the flat landscape of Inkimo Island. The Sea Duck, with a few bullet holes and dents that had not been there the previous day, was fueled and ready to fly. Isaac Walschinsky, his leg bandaged, sat next to his daughter on board the plane.

"Ready, L'il Britches?'

"Roger, Skipper."

With a rush of engines, the seaplane rolled down the runway and into the sky. Isaac, his arm around his daughter, turned to face the pilot and navigator. "I cannot begin to express how grateful I am for everything you have done."

"Think nothin' of it, Ike. All in a day's work."

He turned to his daughter. "As for you - I though I told you to stay in New Fedora!"

"How could I, Father? How could I stay there knowing you were rotting in a prison cell?"

"When I heard you were gone, I assumed the worst. I thought - I thought - "

"You knew, father?!"

The white bear smiled. "There are those who help us, even inside a prison. We are never totally cut off from outside communication."

"Then, did you also know about, about..."

"About what?" he asked sharply.

"About the package, the microfilms, and-"

"How did- " the bear slapped his forehead with his palm. "YOU have them?"

"Yes." the girl said sheepishly.

"But - how? How did you even know where they were?"

"I listen, father. I hear things. I - "

"You should not have done that, little one. A man was sent to collect those..."

"Just what is this package, anyways?" Baloo interjected.

Isaac sighed. "It is information, microfilms, government documents, many things that will expose to the world what the Thembrians have done to my people. Maybe they will still ignore this. We will at least make it more difficult." He shot a glare at Sasha. "They were hidden on a small commercial island, for safekeeping, when the Thembrian agents got too close."

"Small island?" Kit and Baloo said in unison.

"Yes." Walschinsky said, frowning. "They were hidden on a small tropical island, uninhabited except for-"

"Louie's?" Kit squeaked.

"Yes, I believe that is the island."

"Some business you had, Snowflake!" Baloo said

"They were hidden there, until they could be safely retrieved... and then SHE collected them!" Walschinsky blanched. "My goodness, Sasha, you did not bring them with you into Thembria?!"

"No father." the girl replied, and cast a sheepish look at Baloo and Kit. "I hid them at Higher for Hire."

"What?!" Kit and Baloo exclaimed.

"Eet seemed the safest place. I wanted to have them with me - Eet didn't seem secure, to leave them on an island where anyone could find them. I hid them in an old oil drum when you were all asleep."

"Unbelievable." said Baloo.

"Unbelievable." said Rebecca.

"It' s all true, Becky. Ask old Ike here."

Rebecca, Baloo, and Isaac Walschinsky sat at the kitchen table at Higher for Hire. "Yes, Ms. Cunningham, my daughter is a remarkable young woman. She has done many things that I would not approve of, but here I sit, and I am with her once more. I will never allow us to be separated again."

"What'll you do now, Ikey?" Baloo asked. "Where will you go?"

Isaac smiled grimly. "I have a responsibility now, to the many people I left behind in Thembria. I will go wherever I can, try to show people what is happening there." He rubbed his eyes wearily. "It will not be an easy life for Sasha, I am sure. I still have many enemies. I will travel often. But we are free - we are free and I have the proof that many of my brothers suffered to provide. I must not fail."

Kit and Sasha sat on the pier, Kit tossing stones out into the still water. "Where will you go?" he asked.

"Wherever my father needs me. We have each other now. I will help him however I may."

"I'm glad you have your father again."

"It is terrible, to lose one's family." she said fiercely. "I thought I would never know again, the feeling of having a father. I was prepared to live for the rest of my life without one. I will not give him up again."

"I think I know how you feel." Kit said with a rueful smile.

"Your Baloo, he is a wonderful man. He is your father, Keet." She touched his chest. "In here, he is your father."

Kit grasped her hand after she had touched him, and held it for a moment.

Sasha began to cry, gently. "Kit, I am so sorry, I have done such a terrible thing to you-"

"No! You haven't. I think you just - I think - you knew, somehow, that this was something that we needed to do. You knew I would understand, that I would help you. You just couldn't explain it to me." They looked up, and a small plane landed on the water and taxied up to the dock.

"Sounds like you air taxi is here, Mr. Walschinsky." Rebecca said.

Isaac stood. "Thank you, Ms. Cunningham, for being so understanding about this entire bizarre affair." He kissed her on the cheek. "And, Mr. Baloo - "

"Don't worry about it, Ikey. Just go and do what you gotta do. I'm just a pilot, that's all."

"Quite the pilot. Thank you, Mr. Baloo, with all my heart." he said, taking Baloo's hand.

"I guess it's about time, huh?" Kit said.

"I suppose so, Keet."

They stood "I'll never forget you."

"Keet, I must to tell you. Every word I say about you, I mean it. There is no lie. I never meet anyone like you."

"I'm just - just a kid, Sasha." Kit said, staring at his feet.

"No! You are - for me - a hero. You are my brave protector, my knight. You are here - always." she said, touching her heart.

"You're here." he echoed, touching his own. "Always."

They held hands, staring at each other for a long moment. Isaac stood on the dock a few yards away, silently watching.

Kit looked into Sasha's eyes. He couldn't look anywhere else, even if he wanted to. Tentatively, he inclined his head, and slowly moved towards her. Their lips met, for a brief moment that flashed and sparkled like a Krakatoa special, searing itself into his mind forever. Then it was over.

Baloo stood next to Rebecca on the steps of Higher for Hire, as they watched the two cubs silently. Baloo's mouth was slightly agape in an expression of surprise; Rebecca had a small smile on her face.

"Aaawww!" Baloo said, putting his arm around Rebecca's shoulder as the two cubs kissed.

"How 'bout that!"

"There's no moment quite like that one, is there Baloo?" Rebecca said, a wistful smile on her face. "Baloo?"

The big grey bear had pulled out his handkerchief, and was dabbing his eyes. He held it up to his nose and blew, with a tremendous honk.

"Baloo, are you crying?" Rebecca asked, touching his cheek.

"Naw, Beckers. " he said, turning to walk inside. "It's this dang hay fever..."

The two cubs stared at each other for a long moment, hands clasped, then Kit released her paws from his. "G'bye." he said softly.

Sasha sobbed, briefly. "Thank you for helping me find my father."

"Hey - I'm the navigator!"

"Good-bye - Little Britches! Maybe, someday, I see you again. If there is good fortune, it will be so." She kissed his cheek, and walked away. She touched her father on the arm, and walked past him into the air taxi.

Isaac eyed Kit for a moment, then limped over to him and extended his hand.

"Bye sir. Good luck." the boy said, as they clasped hands.

"Good bye, Kit." the white bear grabbed the cub's paw in both of his. "My people, my family - we are grateful. May your life be long and happy, and may you always be surrounded by the ones you love. That is the gift you have given back to me and my daughter." Isaac released the boy's hand, and walked into the air taxi. With a roar, the engine spun to life, and it sped across the water for a moment before lifting into the air. Kit watched it until the plane disappeared through the cliffs and was gone.

Kit walked back into Higher for Hire. Rebecca and Baloo sat at the kitchen table. Kit smiled at them, and started up the stairs.

"Y' okay, L'il Britches?" Baloo asked with concern. The big bear rose, walked over and put his arm around the boy's shoulder.

The boy stopped. "I'm - OK, Papa Bear. I think I just need to be alone for a little bit. I've got a lot to think about." He gave Baloo a small hug, and walked up the stairs.

"He'll be OK, Baloo." Rebecca said. "He just needs to sort some things out for himself."

"Yeah, I know, Beckers. It's just...tough not to be up there with 'im."

"I think he needs to be alone right now. But you really should have a talk with him soon, Baloo, if you know what I mean. I think it's the right time."

Baloo groaned. "Lemmee sleep for about thirty hours, Becky! Then I'll worry about it!"

"Oh, Baloo, there is one thing. You got a letter. In all the excitement, I didn't mention it, and I didn't want to show you with Kit around."

"What is it, Becky?" Baloo asked.

She got up, reached into a drawer and handed an envelope to Baloo. The return address read:

GREATER USLAND DEPARTMENT OF CHILD WELFARE

CAPE SUZETTE BRANCH

1273 SUZETTE CIRCLE

CAPE SUZETTE, USLAND

To be continued...


End file.
